Posted by This past week, sexual assault allegations and claims arose against Vic Mignogna, a well-known anime voice actor in series such as Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Dragon Ball Super: Broly, and Ouron High School Host Club. According to multiple sources, the allegations arose on January 16th on Twitter, where Mignogna was accused of homophobia, rude behavior, and unwanted physical advances during conventions meet and greets. Over 4,000 tweets contributed to the conversation as people began speaking out about their awkward and uncomfortable encounters with Mignogna. The facial recognition of con-goers with Vic have been edited in the photos below due to privacy, and statements can be found below.
“J was approximately 14 years old when she attended New York Comic-Con in 2014 and met Mignogna. She described the encounter as “really, really uncomfortable.” She discussed how the voice actor put his hand underneath her zip-up sweatshirt and on her waist for the initial photo. Then, thinking that the photo-taking portion was done, she was surprised when he asked her to look toward the camera again. That’s when he put his face close to hers and then kissed her.”
This is but one of many accusations made under the hashtag following #KickVic on Twitter, as victims claim there was unnecessary kisses on the cheek, flirtatious behavior, and tight hugs upon meeting Mignogna.
There are also allegations of homophobia, with some describing that Vic would not sign their romantic fan art involving one of his characters because it was “non-canon” related. The fan art featured two characters of the same sex having romantic relations. With many victims coming forward, there is also large following that is defending Mignogna the hashtag #IStandWithVic, including testimonies involving positive encounters, warm welcomes, and video evidence of Vic defending the homosexual community against Christian protestors outside of conventions entrances. According to Bounding Into Comics, however, leaked screenshots have revealed that Mignogna personally was instructing his private fan club – Resembool Rangers – to defend against the accusations on his behalf.
According to the Anime News Network, a Jewish fan of Mignogna recently opened up about feeling discriminated against upon their encounter with him in 2010, when he asked why they chose to have the fan music CD signed instead of the Christian music CDs. The 19-year-old responded that they were Jewish, to where Mignogna responded, “Well, we can change that,” according to their statement.
“I couldn’t believe that he would say something like that to me,” they said. “I wasn’t trying to be rude by telling him my religion, I was just trying to answer his question. I ended up just grabbing the CD and the hat without his signature and apologized to him and just bolted out of the signing line.”
This past week on January 20th, Mignogna released a full statement on Twitter, both apologizing for making fans uncomfortable during encounters and defending himself against the allegations.
It is unknown what will become of Vic Mignogna’s voice acting career at this time, however, his scheduled meet and greets at a number of conventions have been canceled, including Emerald City Comic-Con and Kameha Con. U.S. anime distributor known as Funimation was recently approached Polygon for any comments, but have declined to issue a statement.
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I met Vic three times, in cons, and I always consider him as one of the nicest guests I’ve ever interacted with. He hugged me a couple of times, but always asked first, without knowing that I’m a person who’s uncomfortable with unsolicited physical contact. As for accusing him to be homophobic because he refuses to sign yaoi artwork, that’s just plain stupid.
Many actors or actresses would probably be uncomfortable with signing an image that features their characters in a same-sex pairing, especially if it’s not canon. Heck, some of them flat-out refuses to sign pictures for different reasons. I’ve heard that Nichelle Nichols refused to sign that one Star Trek TOS group pic, because nearly half of her face is hidden behind Leonard Nimoy’s. I also saw Jodie Foster refusing to sign a picture of her, from the movie Taxi Driver, maybe because she plays an underage prostitute in the film, or maybe her character insisted that on guy to try to kill a US president. Every actors or actresses are well within their rights to refuse to sign something they don’t want to.
As for the rest, I don’t know what to say. Sorry.
There’s a video online of Vic literally screaming his head off and nearly fighting someone who’s holding a “Gays Go To Hell” sign outside of a convention. It’s on YouTube. Go look it up. He screams non-stop at the dude about how wrong he is about being hateful, so I don’t buy the homophobe stuff.
He won’t sign porn. Most guests won’t.
Yea how dare a person appeal to others to speak out on their behalf during a moment of vulnerability and offer counter-evidence when they are being accused of something, what kind of a monster does that?
But carry on destroying the guy’s life, if we all find out later that it was mistaken im sure it will just sort itself out.
(According to the Anime News Network, a Jewish fan of Mignogna recently opened up about feeling discriminated against upon their encounter with him in 2010, when he asked why they chose to have the fan music CD signed instead of the Christian music CDs. The 19-year-old responded that they were Jewish, to where Mignogna responded, “Well, we can change that,” according to their statement.
“I couldn’t believe that he would say something like that to me,” they said. “I wasn’t trying to be rude by telling him my religion, I was just trying to answer his question. I ended up just grabbing the CD and the hat without his signature and apologized to him and just bolted out of the signing line.”)
Ever thought he was refering to the CD not the person. Talk about someone being way to sensitive about a comment before thinking it threw or getting confirmation about its meaning. SJW content much.
None of this is actual criminal evidence that would stand up in a real trial.
They won’t take it to a court of law, because none of the behavior they whine about is illegal or happened or is provable. So a few over-sensitive, weirdly warped individuals hide behind a ton of bots and drown the net or companies with fake allegations and scream you have to believe them. News Flash: I don’t. I won’t. I will never believe people who can’t face off in a court of law in order to assure that both sides get a fair hearing. SJWs and Feminist and #MeToo etc. None get any support from me. I do however support their victims.
I’m just gonna say, I heard that he wouldn’t sign free! posters from people who had his character in a relationship with other boys from the show. Though none of the ships are ‘Canon’ the audience is fujoshi’s (BL fans) so there’s plenty of bait and hints of romantic feelings. So I don’t believe that he didn’t sign them for being non-canon, and I’m sorta interpreting it as homophobic. Feel free to prove me wrong ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Thanks to all the jackholes who ruined the opportunity for fans like myself to ever be able to interact in an affectionate way toward Vic. Not everyone is so sensitive as to freak out over a hug and cheek kiss. There’s nothing sexual in nature about a cheek kiss. It’s the sweetest purest expression off genuine affection I can think of. These people ought to be ashamed of ruining treasured moments.