Released in September of 2020, Genshin Impact has become a critically acclaimed free-to-play, open world role playing game. Complete with hundreds of quests, an array of collectable characters and immaculate voice acting, it is no wonder how Genshin Impact became a multi-million dollar game.
One of the main draws for many to the game is the ability to gamble for attractive characters, all of whom have different abilities tied to an element. And with HoyoVerse, Genshin Impact’s company, consistently producing new characters, they also need to find voice actors to portray their creations.
Enter in: Tighnari (pronounced Tie-nar-ee). Released in August of 2022, he was a well beloved character as he was the first character to be released for a new element, one fans had been waiting for almost 2 years. Tighnari was voiced by Elliot Ghindi, a voice actor who had only one other notable accreditation in 2020. Needless to say, he was very new to the world of voice acting and Genshin Impact was a ginormous big break.
It was in February of 2023 when Ghindi’s reputation, and career, were thrown into the garbage by his disgusting actions. It was revealed by one of his social media moderators that Ghindi had been having sexual misconduct (grooming, coercion, and sexual assault) with minors that looked up to him.
Elliot Ghindi, 25, was accused by approximately 20 victims of him attempting to solicit sexual favors and nudes from minors, all of whom were fans of the game and/or his character. In the aftermath of the accusations, Ghindi initially apologized, confirming some claims and denying others. However, it was revealed that he was making burner accounts on Twitter in an attempt to silence victims and dissuade any more individuals from coming out.
Thankfully, HoyoVerse reacted quickly and fired Ghindi only 8 days after the allegations surfaced. Most recently, as of April 11th, his voice acting work was also completely removed from the game, being replaced with the voice of Zacary Gordon, most known for his role as Greg Heffley in Diary of a Wimpy Kid.
I remember reading about this on the Internet when the allegations were picking up steam on social media, and I remember Tighnari’s VA releasing a statement on Twitter in response to his former moderator’s tweet. What I found especially gross was the fact that Elliot Ghindi threatened to commit suicide if his actions were to be brought under the light. That shows me that Ghindi was very well aware of what he was doing, and he knew that what he was doing was wrong. I’m glad that Hoyoverse dropped him altogether from Genshin Impact; while Ghindi has already received recognition (in a negative way) for his actions, I also strongly believe that Ghindi’s work as a voice actor should not overshadow his harmful actions.
Sometimes it seems pointless and sometimes wrong to fire people for the actions of their past in today’s view of canceled culture. But there do exist cases in canceled culture where there is an explicit abuse of power. This is one of those examples where there is an explicit abuse of power. There are a lot of voice actors out there and I am glad that they have a voice actor for that character that doesn’t commit sexual harassment. But then again, I have never played this game and probably never will so do I really know what’s going on? Probably not. I wonder what a fan of Genshin Impact thinks of this move.
Hi Francis,
Your beginning statement kinda threw me off as I thought you were originally intending to defend this man. I do agree that sometimes there are cases that someone is wrongfully accused of something despite them not being the person who truly committed the issue for example if you play Smash Bros, there’s a competitor by the name of Nairo who was accused of sexual misconduct with a minor. This cancel culture truly ruined his career for a while. However, he returned and further news has confirmed that the rumored minor actually was blackmailing him and practically forcing himself onto the esports pro. Lots of sponsorships dropped, his sexuality was revealed, and he lost lots of supporters. In this case however, I think regardless of being a Genshin Impact fan or not, it’s not cool to play a game that have controversial people. Imagine being one of the victims who are very into the game and having to hear a voice of someone who abused you. On another note, imagine watching a show but the actor you’re watching was racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. I mean unless you are also these traits I guess you may support them, but assuming you’re not then wouldn’t you feel uneasy to enjoy the show with such a controversial person. Overall, the main issue in this case is the abuse of power in popular figures where some people make claims just to ruin someone’s life and others that make genuine claims to make light of the true nature of a person. It’s just truly sad to see it happen, but I’m glad that people’s terrible actions come to light. It’s like half and half, you either make these claims to ruin someone’s life or you make these claims to reveal the truth. Either way, it’s unfortunate how people in media get away with a lot of things and also bad that some false claims ruin someone’s life.