Anime Voice Actor Vic Mignogna Accused of Sexual Assault & Homophobia

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.