The developers of Genshin Impact have released a response to allegations of sexual misconduct surrounding their game anime’s English voice actor for Tighnari, Elliot Gindi. The voice actor has been accused of grooming, emotional abuse, blackmail and inappropriate dealings with fans, some of whom were believed to be minors at the time.
Please note that this article contains descriptions of alleged sexual violence and references to suicide. Reader discretion is advised.
These allegations were raised on February 7, and Gindi and HoYoverse have now posted responses to remedy the situation. The acknowledgment of his actions by the voice actor came first in the form of a TwitLonger. In his explanation, he admits to having threatened to commit suicide if his misconduct were revealed, but also denies having knowingly had relations with minors.
HoYoverse has now followed up on its statement in a response to GamesRadar+, saying the following:
“We are deeply sorry for the harm and hurt that has been caused to our fans, players, community and anyone affected. Our internal teams and external partners, including our dubbing studio, worked together on an urgent solution. And we’ll keep you posted on the progress.
This all came to light when a former mod from Gindi’s Discord server named Matty, aka FretCore on Twitter, tweeted a Google Docs filled with screenshots of Discord chats, text messages, and other sexually oriented DMs between Gindi and her fans. Given the contents it contains, we recommend caution when opening.
Details of the document were sent to Matty by people Gindi allegedly had these relationships with, as she was a moderator on his Discord at the time. He has since left the server.
Several Genshin Impact voice actors also weighed in on the situation, including Brianna Braguitas (Hu Tao), alejandro saab (Cino), and many others. “The fans trust you with all their hearts and abusing that trust and taking advantage of your position is deplorable,” said Jackie Lastra, who voices Xiangling. “My heart goes out to the victims. We see you.”