Mignogna classifies allegations against him as ‘defamation’
Anime voice actor Vic Mignogna has filed a million-dollar lawsuit against Funimation and industry colleagues Monica Rial, Jamie Marchi, and Ronald Toye in Tarrant County, Texas District Court. In the suit, Mignogna claims that a sexual harassment investigation that ended in his removal from several projects, constitutes defamation, interference in business, and civil conspiracy.
This comes after a wave of misconduct accusations which resulted in Mignogna’s removal from Funimation’s The Morose Mononokean 2 and Rooster Teeth’s RWBY. Allegations first started to surface around the release of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, in which Mignogna voices the title character.
In January, the hashtag #KickVic began to circulate across social media as both fans and creators shared their encounters with Mignogna. A counter hashtag, #IStandWithVic, started by Mignogna’s fans. The outcry prompted Mignogna to release a public statement denying the claims, but by February, independent investigations had led to his removal from the lineup of nine conventions: Phoenix Fan Fusion, Anime NYC, Anime Milwaukee, Kawaiicon, Ancient City Con, Denver Comicon, Florida Supercon, Raleigh Supercon, Kamicon, and Hudson Valley Comicon. Kamehacon Dallas removed him, but reinstated his appearance on March 24.
On Feb. 11, Funimation publicly announced its investigation into Mignogna’s behavior and removed him from all future projects. This reportedly includes a special feature on the Dragon Ball Super: Broly DVD and Blu-Ray. (Polygon has reached out to Funimation for clarification and further comment on the removals and lawsuit, but the company was unable to provide comment at the time of publish.)
In the lawsuit, Mignogna claims that Rial, Marchi, and Toye directly interfered in his business affairs and that all the statements they made against him are false. “The repeated attention that Monica, Jamie, and even Funimation’s agents, employees or business partners, gave [Twitter user] hanleia’s and Marzgurl’s accusations caused their Tweets to ‘go viral,’” the lawsuit suggests. In the descriptions of the situation, Mignogna’s claim suggests that the defendants have continued “carpet-bombing” him on Twitter, through continued discussion of the allegations.
Polygon has reached out to Rial and Marchi’s representatives for comment, and will update accordingly.
Source: Polygon
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