Genshin Impact is recasting the English voice of Tighnari after the actor was publicly accused of sexual harassment, and its developer has been praised by fans and fellow actors for its decision.
Last week, multiple members of the Genshin Impact English voice cast denounced Elliot Gindi, who was publicly accused of grooming and coercing fans, some of them allegedly underage. Today, developer Hoyoverse announced via its English-facing Twitter account that it would be recasting Tighnari, distancing itself from Gindi due to a "breach of contract."
At present, we are communicating with the voice recording agency regarding matters of casting and re-recording. We will gradually replace Tighnari's existing in-game voice lines, and issue these updates in the corresponding announcements. Thank you for your support, Travelers!February 16, 2023
Effective now, Gindi will no longer be the voice of Tighnari in future updates for Genshin Impact. It's unknown at the time if HoYoverse and the voice recording agency have a replacement for Gindi lined up, but once they do, they'll begin replacing Gindi as the voice of Tighnari in past updates, re-recording old voice lines from the actor.
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The announcement from HoYoverse has been met with nothing but praise from Genshin Impact's English voice cast. The likes of Zach Aguilar, Emi Lo, Anne Yatco, Erika Harlacher-Stone, Jenny Yokobori, and Brianna Knickerbocker have all praised the decision via their personal Twitter accounts, responding to the second of the tweets from Genshin Impact just above.
"We deeply regret the harm and damage that happened to our fans, gamers, community and anyone affected," HoYoverse said in a statement to GamesRadar+ last week regarding the accusations against Gindi. "Both our internal teams and external partners including our voice acting studio have been working together on an urgent solution. And we will keep you posted on the progress."
In a public confession to allegations made against him, Gindi admitted to having "personal relationships" with three women in a Discord server over the course of several months.
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