For the past few days, the anime streaming platform Crunchyroll has been facing backlash from fans because of a recent controversy. The streaming platform has been accused of stealing fan mail, throwing away the letters, and distributing the items among their staff of popular anime voice actor, David Wald. Wald shared a few tweets talking about his situation and how Crunchyroll had disappointed him.
Hannes in Attack on Titan | Credit: WIT Studios
Wald is one of the biggest names in the English anime voice-acting community as he has been a part of many prominent anime series like Attack on Titan, One Piece, Fairy Tail, etc. The voice actor revealed that he has not received any of his fan mail for the past five years that was sent to Crunchyroll and Funimation’s office.
While the streaming platform has been quiet for the past few days, they have finally responded to the allegations and accusations pointed towards them. They have issued an official statement explaining the situation and what they are doing to rectify it.
David Wald’s Fan Mail Stolen By Crunchyroll?
A few days ago, Wald shocked the entire anime community with a tweet that targeted Crunchyroll and Funimation. The tweet was for his fans who have been sending him fan mail for the past five years. He initially apologized that he had not been getting it and then explained that they were actually being stolen by the staff at Crunchyroll.
Voice Actor David Wald | Credit: Instagram@davidwald_va
Wald stated:
Dear friends: if you sent me anything care of Funimation or Crunchyroll in the last 5 years, I apologize, I didn’t get it. I learned yesterday that @Crunchyroll opened my private mail, threw away your letters, and passed out any included items to their staff.
Later on, the voice actor shared another tweet with a picture of the stuff that some fans had sent him. In the tweet he asked the staff of Crunchyroll that if they have something like it or had seen it please return it back to him.
Both tweets went instantly viral and fans started criticising Crunchyroll and Funimation for invasion of privacy. Even other prominent English voice actors came in the support of Wald.
Crunchyroll Finally Issues A Statement
After getting backlash for a few days, the streaming platform finally issued a statement through Anime News Network. A spokesperson from Crunchyroll revealed that they have started the investigation regarding Wald’s situation and they have never promoted this kind of behavior within their staff.
Crunchyroll | Credit: Crunchyroll
The statement read:
Anime fans have a special connection with dub voice talent and that emotional expression is important in fueling more love of anime content. We are currently investigating the matter regarding the allegation of undelivered fan mail to a voice actor.
We respect the privacy of all of our voice actors and do not intentionally open mail or packages not intended for Crunchyroll. Any fan mail should be sent directly to talent and their management.
The Spokesperson assured that Crunchyroll never intentionally opens any kind of mail or packages that are not intended for them. They respect the love and support that fans have for the talent of the voice actors.
While it’s a good thing that Crunchyroll has officially started the investigation on the allegations of stealing the fan mail of Wald, it might still take a lot of time to find out the whereabouts of five years worth of fan mail. These allegations are even worse than what MAPPA had to go through with their staff.
