Genshin Impact voice actor sacked over grooming allegations

Voice actor Elliot Gindi has been fired from Genshin Impact over grooming allegations, the developer HoyoVerse announced on Thursday. The actor is accused of using his newfound fame from the popular game to approach his victims. 

The Shanghai-based HoyoVerse confirmed that Gindi “will no longer be voicing the character… due to a breach of contract” in posts on Twitter and Reddit. His role will be re-cast and past lines will be re-recorded over time, the company added. Genshin Impact is currently one of the most popular games online, averaging millions of players daily, including many young users. Gindi joined the cast in 2022 to voice the character of Tighnari.

Several people have come forward to accuse Gindi of inappropriate behavior, showing screenshots of their chats with the actor. The screen captures also showed the actor threatening self-harm and suicide in order to dissuade users from coming forward. In one message attributed to Gindi, he wrote about the accusations: “I don’t think they will spread it, because as evil as it is, a victim has as much to lose as me.”

The voice actor has also been accused of impersonating Alejandro Saab, who voices the character Cyno in Genshin Impact, to harass minors. Saab slammed Gindi and called him a “disgusting human being” on Monday and later welcomed HoyoVerse’s decision to recast the role. 

Gindi published an apology last week on Twitter and acknowledges the chat screenshots were true. The actor claims that he “thought everything was consensual and safe” and now realizes he was “wrong” and will seek therapy. He admitted to “all of the cringy sex talk” but denies doing “anything with anyone underage.” Being the voice of Tighnari was his biggest role up to this point. 

Other Genshin Impact voice actors condemned Gindi’s behavior, canceling planned events with him. 

The game went through a similar controversy in 2021 when Li Yuantao, who voices the character of Oz in the Chinese version of Genshin Impact, was accused of adultery and leveraging his fame from the game to gain sexual favors from fans.