Following allegations of sexual misconduct with underage children and grooming, Genshin Impact voice actor Elliot Gindi will be removed from the game’s subsequent updates, HoYoverse announced on Twitter.
Gindi voiced Tighnari in the game’s English version, and the HoYoverse team said they are working with a voice recording agency to begin the process of replacing Tighnari’s existing lines with work from another actor, though they provided no timeline for when this might happen.
Allegations surfaced that Gindi used his position to connect with underage fans and conduct inappropriate relationships with them, including asking for sex and promising to wait until they were older. HoYoverse didn’t allude to these allegations directly and only said the termination was for “breach of contract.”
Dear Travelers,
After communications with the voice recording agency, we hereby confirm that Elliot Gindi, the English voice actor for Tighnari will no longer be voicing the character in subsequent versions due to a breach of contract.
— Genshin Impact (@GenshinImpact) February 16, 2023
Gindi admitted to some of the misconduct in a post, but denied ever engaging in overtly sexual conduct in streams or with fans – despite uncensored images of explicit conversations with a 13-year-old on Discord surfacing that allegedly show Gindi asking for sex and threatening suicide after the teenager said how old they were.
Alejandro Saab, who voices Cyno in Genshin Impact, also said he discovered Gindi was using his name to lure fans in under false pretenses. Several of the game’s other voice actors also spoke out, including Zach Aguilar, who voices the male protagonist.
“Disappointed and angry,” Aguilar said on Twitter. “I have removed the stream with Elliot and will no longer be associating with him. I refuse to give someone like this a platform in any way. To use your power this way over fans is disgusting and shameful. My heart goes out for the victims of this situation.”
Voice actors and fans met the news from HoYoverse with relief and satisfaction, thanking the developer for taking action.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
