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[O-N-E]

Hi folks. Here to report on the latest "gate". Not my choice. That's just the name this situation has acquired. So, the beloved VA hero of the anime world, Vic Mignona, Edward Elric himself, has had a wrecking ball put to his career in the last few weeks. I'll try to provide a thread you can follow, this is new to me as well.

There have been rumors surrounding Vic for a while, but things reached a fever pitch this January when Amelia Cook, founder of Anime Feminist retweeted someone who posted some of the allegations that have been circling.


Now more people started to come forward with their accounts of interactions with him and things were looking bad. Vic responded. He denied allegations of assault and prejudice and said that he will be changing the way he interacts with fans in the future.


He also made a very teary apology a few weeks ago at a convention, again saying he will change his interactions and that he was wrong to assume that just because most people want a hug, he should hug everyone.



Then came an accusation from a fellow voice actor. Bulma, Monica Rial.

Funimation, likely Vic's biggest paycheck, now pulled the plug on their relations with him.

Then a fun and bizarre set of tweets followed.

LOL

She claims to have proof though.

Some other voice actors have come out in support of her. Including Vegeta.

He had some interesting interactions with the fans.

Jamie Marchi is another VA and she wants Mignogna's balls dammit!

And we got some jokesters too, heh.

Goku also lent his support with some choice wordage.

Three months ago....

Right now, Vic is preparing a lawsuit. Also according to the guy below, there are people grouping up (including Funimation employees) and fabricating SWATTING and other harassment stories in order to make Vic's fanbase look bad. Crazy shit.



My take is, as a fan for whom the Fullmetal Alchemist series might be the best anime, I don't want this to be true. There's also the annoying part of all these accusations flying around, claims of proof, but none shown. Now collusion by Funimation employees too! What in the world....

Obviously, I would accept it if he's proven guilty, but if he's innocent, how's he supposed to bounce back from this obliteration of his rep?

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

Yeah, Monica Rial is looney tunes, regardless of whether Vic is guilty of anything or not, that much is clear.

I don't know the guy personally and it's not impossible he's a perv, but my gut instinct says that he's getting treated unfairly for two reasons, one is that he's always been an outspoken Christian and that rubs some people the wrong way, don't try to deny that's the case.

And two the optics of him hugging or kissing teen girls on the cheek is gonna look back to some, since we live in an anti-male culture there are those who just assume the guy must be getting off on that and it's not platonic.

It's a sad situation all around and anime fandom will never be the same, just like gaming culture was never the same after Gamergate, there's not a single fandom culture SJWs don't want to fuck with.

 

[kunonabi]

None of the accusations really hold any weight so far and people editing video clips to make Vic look bad or misappropriating other people's photos as proof only for the owner to debunk the accusation and side with Vic doesnt help matters. Reddit trying to shut down Vic supporters and conventions threatening to arrest them is also incredibly concerning.

 

[Kamina]

I really hate it when people make a claim, post it publicly, and if the comments don’t support thier opinion they scream “stop harassing me”.
Twitter isn’t a box you can shout into and only get echoes back. Sometimes peole will see things differently.

 

[EviLore]

Looks like a witch hunt.

 

[DunDunDunpachi]

At least it started a conversation.

 

[interactivemonodrama]

 

[Pumpkin Seeds]

This is a mess to untangle. The accusation is bad.

And I watched a video of him and honestly thought he was gay.

 

[oagboghi2]

The longer this story goes on, the more and more it looks like a witch-hunt.

Apparently someone faked a swatting, and tried to blame it on Vic. Just insane

 

[The Meme Thief]

Did any of you guys see the new io9 article?

https://io9.gizmodo.com/one-of-anime-s-biggest-voices-accused-of-sexual-harassm-1832390505

I agree that in these types of situations, people should wait for facts to come out, but there's no way this many people lied just to slander him. Also, there's a bunch of pictures that have surfaced under #kicvic, of him giving unwanted physical attention to people.

 

[Wheeljack539]

Did any of you guys see the new io9 article?

https://io9.gizmodo.com/one-of-anime-s-biggest-voices-accused-of-sexual-harassm-1832390505

I agree that in these types of situations, people should wait for facts to come out, but there's no way this many people lied just to slander him. Also, there's a bunch of pictures that have surfaced under #kicvic, of him giving unwanted physical attention to people.

Some "interesting" connections were pointed out by Yellowflash on that:

 

[The Meme Thief]

Some "interesting" connections were pointed out by Yellowflash on that:

So, the person who wrote the article is connected to the person who surfaced the allegations. If you assume the article is biased, you probably also need to assume that the original allegations were biased/false, which is kind of a stretch. The only thing this really means to me is that the author had more connections to access people that used to be involved with Vic.

 

[oagboghi2]

So, the person who wrote the article is connected to the person who surfaced the allegations. If you assume the article is biased, you probably also need to assume that the original allegations were biased/false, which is kind of a stretch. The only thing this really means to me is that the author had more connections to access people that used to be involved with Vic.

Why is that a stretch? One story makes them false doesn't make them false or vice versa. The writer is just a tainted source, and that should be taken into account.

 

[The Meme Thief]

Why is that a stretch? One story makes them false doesn't make them false or vice versa. The writer is just a tainted source, and that should be taken into account.

Maybe one of us worded our post wrong, because I'm not exactly sure what we're arguing about.

What I meant was, if you use information to reach a conclusion, and then find out that information was false, you need to assume that the conclusion was false as well. Which means that you can't just have them stand independently and both not be false if one is false.

 

[Omega Supreme Holopsicon]

Even if he offered unwanted hugs, I doubt he'd persisted in forcefully hugging or kissing at least not any time in the recent past, in the last few years, in a public setting or it'd have blown up previously. People initiate social contact, be it hugs or kisses expecting them to be acceptable, only if they persist after being shown discomfort is there any real issue. In some cultures people expect kisses in the cheek or hugs, if you're uncomfortable with them you'd have trouble in said cultures, you'd offend others(and virtually all individuals within said cultures conform and don't show any problem).

I remember hearing how broly was problematic to sjws for dealing with a mentally impaired character, and after that it seemed stuff started to be blown out of proportion and additional lies sprinkled to destroy the voice actor behind him.

 

[yeahokaywhatever]

It seems that if you're not a part of the progressive and socially conscious clique in anime, you're an easy target. When did sjws latch onto anime? First Funimation with the odd English dubs referring to politics, Crunchyroll with their nonsense and we're full circle with Vic and Funimation.

 

[5secondrulesucks]

i dont really know about any of this shit apart what i barely read. in truth its the guy probably is a little bit of a creep and that voice actress is a psycho. i bet hes the type of guy who is a bit too touchy feely and i bet she liked it a bit and she seems the total type to go from fucking 0-60 and be like "he did so many inappropriate things' and all this other bullshit as soon as she heard of other peoples stories. shes an opportunist to be a victim and shes a tourist. but here is the kicker this is all my interpretation based on so little. what i think happened should mean abso-fucking-lutely nothing as well as the other idiots who are trying to get people fired and all of this other shit. if he truly did something wrong then it should be up to like courts to decide if he in fact did something wrong but until then hes innocent and i dont think people should try and ruin the mother fuckers life based on nothing. same goes for the chick voice actor but when these situations come up everyone is out for blood baby

 

[Starlight Lotice]

People will find any excuse to accuse people of wrongdoing to do even more wrongdoing themselves.

These are not Vigilantes, they are criminals who want to point the finger to a victim to excuse doing criminal stuff to said person.

If he has done these things then the police will deal with it along with the victims involved. Don't go on Social Media claiming this and that and then pulling a "I can't say anything"....well...don't make accusations as well you stupid idiots as that is disclosing "confidential" information and can screw you over in Court.

I think ALL Actors (Male) should abstain from interacting with fans (male and female) from now on and state that they do not want to be accused of harrassment. This will upset the true fans who will blame opportunists for this.

Honestly though...even touching someone platonically is considered harrassment.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

It's the same old song and dance we've heard for years now.

SJWs want to establish a culture of pure fucking fear for every man on the planet and totally circumvent rule of law for instead mob rule, sure, "nobody's going to jail" but someone can be still branded a "suppressive person" and "fair game" for a lot of life ruining shit.

With the real crime not necessarily being any sexual harassment or other wrongdoing, but simply not fitting the mold of what a SJW thinks a human being should be.

In all likelihood, Vic's real crime was being a little too comfortably a white male and for that he had to be destroyed.

Big Brother is here and he has purple hair.

 

[Shifty]

What a trash fire. My stress levels went up just from reading it.

And, as ever, the purple-haired nutters spearheading these sorts of things want to have their cake and eat it.
'Oh I totally have proof but muh feels therefore take my word for it'. Fuck off. Put the evidence on the table, or vacate your seat.

Don't @ me (or I'll sue)

At least it started a conversation.

 

[Kamina]

Big Brother is here and he has purple hair.

How dare you assume Big Brother‘s gender!

 

[Soleil rouge]

Monica Rial seems like another Zoe Quinn. On the front line ready for war when it comes to systematically destroying lives, but quick to claim victimhood when called out. Evil, narcissistic, sheltered, PRIVILEGED, and completely out of touch with the real world.

 

[Can't decide]

Funny. I once sent a girl home for failing to do any work and faking sickness. Half an hour later she put up essay upon essay on social media tagging as many colleagues as possible, stating how terrible of an evil man I am and filling it with as many false accusations as her imagination could muster up (and I apparently only did so because I wanted to get in her knickers?). Her friends bandwagoned on to it without question and joined in the crusade - all over faking illness.

This Monica Riel and the girl who tried to get me shamed and fired over fucking nothing whatsoever both happen to write in identical manners throughout, almost word for word, post after post, just like many other supposed "victims". So I'm immediately inclined to believe that all these people accusing this guy of stuff are full of shit and have a hidden agenda against him.

 

[O-N-E]

Ok, so it's a real mess right now. Mostly because a bunch of false claims along with bad attitudes / methods are being put forward along with things that seem more legit.
There are some women from his past (late 80s) that have similar stories to current claims. Two high school students, one directly was familiar with him (directed her in a play), the other was a student at the school he taught.

Here's the thread for the one he worked with on the play:


A sleuth or two found a Michelle at the school she mentioned in the correct timeframe.

Around a year ago, before this blew up, she posted a version of it:

And the woman from the high school he taught at. She has yearbook pictures on her account.



So I'm fairly certain at this point he's done some creepy things. Not sure to what extent they were illegal or provable in a court.

Monica also came out with her story. At the end she says she's willing to forgive him and even hints that he could still be her friend.


In responses she addresses the issue of her attitude towards fans:


And the reason she came forward even though she was friendly with him recently:


Again, the way it was handled was rather clumsy and sledgehammery, but for me, I feel it's safe to assume he has a problem with the way he behaves.

Some Anime Con staffers also chimed in:

 

[JunkerWoland]

Such a messy and disappointing situation. We have a witch hunt kicked-off by an article that's the equivalent of an angry personal-blog post and an ongoing trial being held in the court of social media.

Putting aside the second & third-hand fan accounts, I'm inclined to believe Vic Mignogna has displayed behaviors that earned him ill will and enemies, particularly within his industry, but no evidence has been provided to prove the monster he's being portrayed as by certain individuals.

Unfortunately, Anime News Network is the closest approximation to a professional media outlet, covering anime & manga for the primarily English-speaking market. Their word carries an excessive amount of weight. At the same time, the North American anime industry (less so with manga) too often functions like a fan-run enterprise. There's simply a lot of tribalism and conflicts of interest to be found in the immediate industry, adjacent activities, and the fandom.

I usually try not to fall victim to conspiracy theories, but I am beginning to think people wanted Vic Mignogna out of voice dubbing and Anime News Network was more than happy to lend a hand.

 

[kunonabi]

yeah, those new accounts are far more concerning than the shoddy "reporting" that's defined most of this mess.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

It sounds like it's probably true, the problems lie in the way modern culture handles these situations, but that doesn't mean Vic isn't still guilty, a stopped clock is right at least twice a day, as the saying goes.

What a sad, sorry, disappointing situation this all is, I'm highly disappointed in Vic Mignogna, I used to really idolize him and Fullmetal Alchemist was one of the defining experiences of my teenage years, these are some happy memories that will forever be tainted by this.

But dang, it really is a sordid mess, somebody get Kenneth Anger on the phone, sounds like it's time to write "Anime Babylon"!

 

[Wheeljack539]

Putting aside the second & third-hand fan accounts, I'm inclined to believe Vic Mignogna has displayed behaviors that earned him ill will and enemies, particularly within his industry, but no evidence has been provided to prove the monster he's being portrayed as by certain individuals.

As I mentioned earlier. The man is a straight up diva. He's hard on the con staff and is generally full of himself. This is something that I've known since 2005. If it were simply this finally getting to be too much and the companies quietly letting him go then it's be something else entirely.

And while it would be disappointing I think we'd all agree that would be fair.

But I despise the way this went down mainly simply due to how this began because a few fans were pissed off that he never signed their damn yaoi fanart and was in a big movie. Then ANN going as far to run the initial story with images that they doctored (and using a photo that the original girl was fine with) and then the damn thing snowballed. I know they and many others hate the guy but sexual misconduct allegations are a entirely different ballgame and you don't ruin the guy and his life like this (you take him to court and let him hang if it's true) and then Funimation and RT using the brouhaha to let him go because they didn't have the balls to let him go prior is fucking worse.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

As I mentioned earlier. The man is a straight up diva. He's hard on the con staff and is generally full of himself. This is something that I've known since 2005. If it were simply this finally getting to be too much and the companies quietly letting him go then it's be something else entirely.

And while it would be disappointing I think we'd all agree that would be fair.

But I despise the way this went down mainly simply due to how this began because a few fans were pissed off that he never signed their damn yaoi fanart and was in a big movie. Then ANN going as far to run the initial story with images that they doctored (and using a photo that the original girl was fine with) and then the damn thing snowballed. I know they and many others hate the guy but sexual misconduct allegations are a entirely different ballgame and you don't ruin the guy and his life like this (you take him to court and let him hang if it's true) and then Funimation and RT using the brouhaha to let him go because they didn't have the balls to let him go prior is fucking worse.

Oh yeah, the situation was mishandled badly, the manipulative, biased way the media does things nowadays is fucking criminal and actually hurts the cause of justice in the first place by giving opponents plenty of ammo with which to dismiss allegations.

 

[JunkerWoland]

As I mentioned earlier. The man is a straight up diva. He's hard on the con staff and is generally full of himself. This is something that I've known since 2005. If it were simply this finally getting to be too much and the companies quietly letting him go then it's be something else entirely.

And while it would be disappointing I think we'd all agree that would be fair.

But I despise the way this went down mainly simply due to how this began because a few fans were pissed off that he never signed their damn yaoi fanart and was in a big movie. Then ANN going as far to run the initial story with images that they doctored (and using a photo that the original girl was fine with) and then the damn thing snowballed. I know they and many others hate the guy but sexual misconduct allegations are a entirely different ballgame and you don't ruin the guy and his life like this (you take him to court and let him hang if it's true) and then Funimation and RT using the brouhaha to let him go because they didn't have the balls to let him go prior is fucking worse.

I'm not fully following what you're wanting to get across in the above post, so I neither agree nor disagree on any specific matter. Regardless of his potentially poor behavior, I've seen nothing to substantiate the more severe insinuations about Vic Mignogna, while the Anime News Network piece and much of the reaction to it currenly leave me thinking this is a case of people colluding to punt the guy from the dubbing industry. For what it's worth, I say this as someone who is not a fan of Mr. Mignogna nor of English-dubbed anime.

 

[infinitys_7th]

And the woman from the high school he taught at. She has yearbook pictures on her account.



So I'm fairly certain at this point he's done some creepy things. Not sure to what extent they were illegal or provable in a court.

This rings true a lot more than anything else I have seen. That sort of thing (closing the school upon scandal) is really common with a lot of these private schools. Between that and him apparently not listing that job when he definitely had it, the situation is very suspicious.

It's a shame something like this is drowned out by the drama bullshit within the fandom itself.

 

[Kamina]

So wait, Bulma went to therapy because she got kissed? And now we have witch hunt because he kissed some other people too in his life?

 

[KOMANI]

So wait, Bulma went to therapy because she got kissed? And now we have witch hunt because he kissed some other people too in his life?

He tickled somebody too

 

[Kamina]

He tickled somebody too

Shocked

 

[Airbus Jr]

Turns out real life Goku and Vegeta hates Broly too

But how they're going to replace Broly?

Vic Mignona is Broly( fast forward to 3.35)

 

[O-N-E]

 

[7echnicolor]

lol he’s still not getting his job back tho

 

[timberger]

Glad to see this creep finally facing some consequences for the vile shit he's done over the years.

I can remember hearing about some of the things he's done years back but was sceptical because it was hard to believe anyone could get away with such fucked up behaviour for so long... but it seems like a lot of staffers and co-workers at cons and studios were enabling or excusing him for far too long.

He's done for now and well deserved it is. That "silence is consent" story is some of the most 'yikes' shit I've ever read.

 

[lifa-cobex]

I see they've began fucking with Nick Rekieta...


Probably a bad idea to fuck the the dick show lawyer.



The more shit these lot throw out, the more less inclined to believing any of the accusations.
Especially since absolutely no proof has actually been brought to the table yet.

 

[HaveButOneLife]

BTW I hope people stop saying he got "fired" as media would suggest - as he was never "hired" in the first place, he's a contractor not an employee.

 

[lifa-cobex]

BTW I hope people stop saying he got "fired" as media would suggest - as he was never "hired" in the first place, he's a contractor not an employee.

As far as I heard. He was hired to do season 2 of Morose Mononokean through Funimation.
Now he is longer hired.

Sounds like he was fired to me??



Going through what Monica Rial said in this tweet chain thing. She seems to have a very wide scope of what she deems as harassment.

 

[Can't decide]

I've never heard of Nick before, but I just watched all 3 hours of this video. Not a guy you would want to mess with!

 

[lifa-cobex]

I've never heard of Nick before, but I just watched all 3 hours of this video. Not a guy you would want to mess with!

Look into the Dick vs Maddox case if you really want some chuckles.
It's a very deep rabbit hole.

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

The whole situation is a complete fucking mess and will probably ruin anime fandom, just like gaming culture was never the same after Gamergate.

It was only was a matter of time until SJWism came for anime fandom, let's just hope it never affects anime itself.

 

[Omega Supreme Holopsicon]

So I'm fairly certain at this point he's done some creepy things. Not sure to what extent they were illegal or provable in a court.

The only inappropriate things seem to be things that happened when a lone female came to his apartment alone. It seems he tried to initiate, to make a move, and some women didn't like it and he stopped.

Right now the issue is he says he stopped immediately some women expressed discomfort or asked him to stop, and some women say he persisted(but obviously not all the way, just for a bit more.).

 

[Wheeljack539]

The whole situation is a complete fucking mess and will probably ruin anime fandom, just like gaming culture was never the same after Gamergate.

It was only was a matter of time until SJWism came for anime fandom, let's just hope it never affects anime itself.

As long as Japan caters to the Japanese first it will never happen. Besides, there's a ton of stuff that's been done for decades in Japan that is more progressive than anything western animation has done (which is also probably why Japan won't be affected).

 

[petran79]

Yeah, Monica Rial is looney tunes, regardless of whether Vic is guilty of anything or not, that much is clear.

I don't know the guy personally and it's not impossible he's a perv, but my gut instinct says that he's getting treated unfairly for two reasons, one is that he's always been an outspoken Christian and that rubs some people the wrong way, don't try to deny that's the case.

And two the optics of him hugging or kissing teen girls on the cheek is gonna look back to some, since we live in an anti-male culture there are those who just assume the guy must be getting off on that and it's not platonic.

It's a sad situation all around and anime fandom will never be the same, just like gaming culture was never the same after Gamergate, there's not a single fandom culture SJWs don't want to fuck with.

As if he was the only pervert voice actor.

Also how many of those voice actors have voiced horny anime teenager girls and boys and act now morally outraged?

 

[Red Crayon Aristocrat]

As long as Japan caters to the Japanese first it will never happen. Besides, there's a ton of stuff that's been done for decades in Japan that is more progressive than anything western animation has done (which is also probably why Japan won't be affected).

Oh yeah, I doubt it would affect anime itself, but the American fandom will never be the same, it will be sad to see.

 

[oagboghi2]

lol he’s still not getting his job back tho

Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with you?

 

[lifa-cobex]

wrong thread*