Anime and video game voice actor Vic Mignogna announced that he was thankful for the support he’s received from fans and has retained a law firm to help with salvaging his 20-year career in the entertainment business following a string of allegations made against him in the public space and on media websites that eventually led to him being fired by production companies.
On February 20th, 2019, Mignogna posted up a tweet explaining that he has retained lawyers and will be moving forward to reclaim his career.
— vic mignogna (@vicmignogna) February 21, 2019
If you’re unable to read the tweet, the message states…
“Words cannot express the depth of my gratitude for all the kindness and support that has been shown to me over the last few weeks. I had hoped that my apologies and acknowledgments, both public and private, would be received. But I have now very reluctantly retained a law firm as my last and only recourse to attempt to salvage my reputation and my 20-year career in this industry.
“A friend expressed a desire to set up a GoFundMe for legal expenses. I approved his kind offer and am so grateful, but I am not managing it nor will I personally receive any of it. Any surplus will go to the Salvation Army Dallas Domestic Violence and Abuse Shelters.
“I hold no malice toward anyone. I just love my work and the fans, and sincerely wish to continue.”
Initially there were some debates and questions about a GoFundMe campaign opened up by lawyer Nick Rekieta on behalf of anime voice actor, Vic Mignogna. Rekieta made it known that he was not representing Mignogna as a lawyer, but that he was handling the GoFundMe as a bridge between fans and the legal expenses for the popular voice actor. This drew criticisms from some corners of the internet, prompting a back and forth on the topic across social media. Well, Mignogna finally stepped in to end the debates by confirming what Rekieta had mentioned.
Rekieta’s donation campaign is still live over on the GoFundMe.com page.
At the moment it has garnered more than $29,700 as of the writing of this article.
The funds will be used entirely to pay for Mignogna’s legal expenses, while any leftovers will go toward charity, as mentioned in the tweet. Updates relating to the GoFundMe are also covered in updates that Rekieta has been posting on his YouTube channel.
We don’t exactly know who exactly is going to be targeted in the lawsuit, but many of Vic’s fans are hoping that he takes Anime News Network to court along with Funimation and Rooster Teeth. The reason fans are angry at Anime News Network is because they feel the outlet broadcast a lot of spurious information that eventually led to Mignogna getting fired, it also didn’t help that Anime News Network came out vehemently against supporters of Mignogna, calling them “Nazis”.
Various anime fans and supporters of Mignogna also came out against Funimation when they discovered that the internal investigation that the company held to determine whether or not to fire Mignogna contained the involvement of voice actress Samantha Inoue-Harte. The reason fans were incensed at this revelation was because Harte was recently involved in a SWATting hoax, where she explicitly blamed Vic Mignogna’s supporters for the incident. However, it turned out that the SWATting did not happen and the photos that were used in the Facebook post were from 2016.
Obviously this called into question Harte’s involvement with Funimation’s investigation, and whether or not anything she contributed contained verity, given the fact that the SWATting incident was fake, and there was no proof that Vic Mignogna’s fans had any involvement whatsoever.
So far Funimation has not responded to any queries about Harte’s involvement with the investigation or whether or not they would be conducting a second investigation.
For now, fans can contribute to the GoFundMe to help with Vic Mignogna’s legal expenses as he attempts to exact a measure of recourse for his career.
(Thanks for the news tip Frankie Wuz Here)
