Elliot Gindi, the English voice actor for Genshin Impact character Tighnari, has been fired by HoYoverse. As confirmed by HoYoverse’s Twitter account on Wednesday, Gindi’s removal was allegedly due to, “…a breach of contract.” However, it can easily allude to the recent allegations of the actor engaging in sexual misconduct with underaged fans. Due to his firing, all Tighnari voice lines will be rerecorded and replaced by another actor in future patches. According to HoYoverse, information on when these changes will take place will happen in future announcements, although it is unknown when these announcements will occur.
Two of Gindi’s Discord and Twitch moderators FretCore and phiotan came out with the allegations on February 7, linking to a 21-page Google Doc containing screenshots of Gindi involving himself in inappropriate conversations with underage fans in his Discord server and on Instagram. Gindi was accused of allegedly engaging in predatory behavior against underaged individuals, emotional manipulation, transphobic behavior, and sexual indecent exposure during streams.
Following these allegations, Gindi released a Twitlonger post the next day, confirming the validity of the screenshots within the document. That said, Gindi denied knowingly entering relationships with underage fans and engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior. Gindi promptly left his social media accounts afterward.
The response to these allegations from the community was explosive, with many fans and other Genshin voice actors condemning Gindi’s actions. Pressure from the community relented to HoYoverse releasing a statement on the situation, expressing their sorrow and deep regret for Gindi’s actions.
“We deeply regret the harm and damage that happened to our fans, gamers, community and anyone affected,” said HoYoverse. “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.”
It is a wanted change from HoYoverse’s typical resistance of public statements towards controversy, as noted by Kotaku.