Fans of the Hoyoverse gacha game Honkai Star Rail have called for the replacement of Moze’s voice actor Chris Niosi after their history of abuse allegations was thrust back into the spotlight.
Chris Niosi, voice actor for Moze had several abuse allegations bubble up in 2019. One of these accusations came from his ex-girlfriend, to which the VA admitted he was “emotionally abusive” in an apology on Tumblr.
Niosi’s ex-girlfriend Amy took to Tumblr to accuse him of being an “emotionally abusive a**hole.” She claimed that while dating him from September 2017 to April 2019, Niosi had been manipulative, groped her without consent, and lied about communicating with his previous girlfriend at the time.
This was coupled with issues with boundaries and anger management, which led her to be “fearful of his meltdowns every day.”
Once these allegations came to light, Niosi came forward with an apology of his own, addressing the situation and apologizing to the others he may have hurt in the process.
“I am 30 years old and for about half of my lifetime, I have horribly mistreated and abused friends, colleagues, and even my significant others,” the VA explained.
“I’m not looking for forgiveness. I only hope I am finally taking the first true step to being a better person and I will do my best to never let anyone else down, or hurt anyone else I care about ever again.”
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Following the allegations in 2019, Nintendo removed the voice actor from the Fire Emblem series where they played Byleth. Now with the announcement of Niosi’s casting in Honkai Star Rail, many fans are imploring Hoyoverse to do the same.
This you? pic.twitter.com/2EeDsbj2M2
— Vassa (@uncouthbeast) July 18, 2024
“I don’t give a f*** how much therapy Chris Niosi went to in order to get better – it’s not fair to his victims to hear their abuser’s voice in stuff. This bi*** should stay out of the VA career period,” one player said.
“Chris Niosi admitted to emotionally and sexually abusing his colleagues, family, and partners in 20 f***ing 19. Goddamn Nintendo replaced his role in a game weeks before it was set to release. Casting him in something now is f***ing embarrassing,” another player added.
Many Honkai players claimed that despite the apology issued by the voice actor, Niosi did not directly address many of the allegations and “has done nothing” to earn his other victims’ forgiveness since.
Hoyoverse is yet to respond to the backlash from the casting announcement.