Vic Mignogna

Mignogna was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, to Barb Myers.[4][5] He graduated from Liberty University with a degree in television and film production,[6][7] and taught English and speech at Trinity Christian Academy in Jacksonville, Florida.[8] Mignogna helped produce and arrange some of the songs on DC Talk's eponymous first album.[5][6][9] He was a summer seasonal officer with the Ocean City Police Department.[6] In 1990, Mignogna moved to Houston, Texas, where he was a film and video production instructor at The Art Institute of Houston.[9] In 1993, he was a contestant on American television talent show Star Search, on which he sang "Worth Waiting For".[10]

Mignogna at a comic expo in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, June 2011

While working in video production with John Gremillion in Houston, Mignogna got involved in voice acting at ADV Films.[5][9] He made his debut as Vega in the video game-based anime series Street Fighter II V.[11][5][12][13][14] Mignogna started attending anime conventions, where he contacted Funimation and landed the voice role of Broly in the Dragon Ball Z movies, as well as Dragon Ball Super: Broly.[5][12]

In 2007, the American Anime Awards presented Mignogna with an award for Best Actor for his work on Fullmetal Alchemist.[15][16][17] He often gains attention for his role in Alchemist, and he at one point attended between 15 and 25 conventions per year.[11][18] One of Mignogna's career goals was "to record at all of the major places where dubbing is done".[19] He said he was "the first ADV voice actor to record at Funimation in Dallas and then I was the first to go to New York".[19] He has also recorded in Los Angeles; he tried out for Bleach and received the part of Ikkaku Madarame.[20][21] In non-anime productions, he voiced Qrow Branwen in Rooster Teeth's web series RWBY.[22]

In addition to voice acting, Mignogna has been involved in production for music, sound, and video.[23][24] He has produced hundreds of jingles for commercials,[19] and he was a worship leader with Houston's First Baptist Church.[25][9] Mignogna has sung the U.S. national anthem at several Houston Astros baseball games.[9] As a musician, he has released several albums, some of which feature English cover versions of anime songs from shows including Funimation dub of One Piece and the Dragon Ball series. He also handled some of the ADR direction for the English dub of Claymore, in which he voices Rigaldo.

Mignogna has been involved with several fan productions, including Fullmetal Fantasy[19] and Star Trek: Phase II. In the latter series, he co-directed the episode "Enemy: Starfleet" and played the Andorian Captain. He directed "KITUMBA" and played Malkthon the Klingon, and was slated to direct the episode "Mindsifter".[11][14][26] In 2012, Mignogna worked with the Starship Farragut production group. He directed and starred as Captain James T. Kirk in their web series Star Trek Continues.[27][28][29][30] Mignogna has received good reviews for writing, directing, executive-producing, and starring in Star Trek Continues, especially for his portrayal of the character of Kirk, respectfully using William Shatner's unique mannerisms and cadence.[31][32]

Following the English release of Dragon Ball Super: Broly, which prominently features Mignogna's vocal work, allegations of sexual harassment against him began to surface on Twitter, with some allegations dating back to 1989.[1][33][34][35] Multiple accounts alleged that he kissed, groped, and made lewd comments to fans without their consent, some of whom were underage.[33][34][36] Voice actresses Monica Rial and Jamie Marchi tweeted their support for those speaking out, and alleged that he had also sexually harassed them.[1][35][37]

On January 22, 2019, Tammi Denbow, executive director of employee relations at Sony Pictures, opened an investigation based on reports made by Rial, two female fans, and a former Funimation employee, which concluded a week later with termination of his contract.[38] On February 5, Rooster Teeth severed their business relationship with him, and Funimation recast his role of the Executive in The Morose Mononokean.[39][40][41] Multiple anime conventions also removed him from their guest list.[36][42] In response to the controversy, Mignogna categorically denied any accusations of sexual harassment.[36][42]

Mignogna issued a statement of regret during his panel at Bak-Anime 2019 and again via Twitter on February 13, 2019.[43] Fans donated over $262,000 to a crowdfunding account opened by lawyer Nick Rekieta, who assisted Mignogna in acquiring Ty Beard as his attorney.[1][44] On February 20, Mignogna confirmed on Twitter that he was pursuing legal action,[45] and later filed a million-dollar lawsuit against Funimation, Rial, Marchi, and Ron Toye for defamation and tortious interference in the Tarrant County District Court.[46] Funimation filed a response on June 12, 2019, denying Mignogna's allegations.[47]

On June 26, Mignogna was deposed.[1] On July 1, 2019, Funimation filed an anti-SLAPP motion for Mignogna to dismiss his lawsuit.[48] Rial, Marchi, and Toye then filed anti-SLAPP motions on July 19,[49] with ten affidavits, including ones from Kara Edwards and Michele Specht,[8][1] as well as several allegations that he had also made unwanted advances towards Mari Iijima.[50] On July 30, another affidavit was submitted by the two fans from Funimation's investigation.[1]

On September 6, 2019, a judge dismissed seven of the twelve claims, ruling in the defendants' favor. Mignogna was required to pay all of Marchi's legal fees.[51][52] On October 4, 2019, the District Court announced the remaining claims had been dismissed.[53] Mignogna filed an appeal on October 24, with a hearing set for November 21.[54] The judge later ruled that Mignogna was required to pay for the defendants' attorney fees.[55] On August 18, 2022, the Texas Second Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal of Mignogna's lawsuit and ruled that the District Court judge erred with regards to the lawyer's fees awarded to Rial and Toye, revising the initial amount up from $100,000 to $282,953.80 to account for additional costs.[56] Mignogna's appeal was denied in September 2022.[57]

Mignogna was in a relationship with actress Michele Specht from 2006 to May 2018.[4]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vic Mignogna.

• Official website
• Vic Mignogna at Anime News Network's encyclopedia
• Vic Mignogna convention appearances on AnimeCons.com
• Vic Mignogna at IMDb 
• Vic Mignogna at Behind The Voice Actors