Crunchyroll Responds to Voice Actor’s Fan Mail Theft Allegations

a veteran voice actor He appeared on social networks stating that anime is a giant crispy roll he allegedly opened his private mail, threw away his letters, and distributed fan-made trinkets and art to his staff for the past five years.

Last Friday, ADR director and voice actor David Wald (Gajeel from fairy tail and Askeladd of Vinland Saga) apologized to his friends and fans on your personal X/Twitter account revealing that each and every letter addressed to him through Funimation or Crunchyroll over the past five years never reached him.

“Yesterday I found out that Crunchyroll opened my private mail, threw away their letters, and handed over the included items to their staff,” Wald wrote on October 25.

Dear friends, if you sent me anything about Funimation or Crunchyroll in the last 5 years, I apologize, I did not receive it. Yesterday I found out that @Crunchyroll I opened my private email, threw away your letters, and distributed the included articles to your staff.

– David Wald (@DavidWald_VA) October 25, 2024

At the time of writing, Wald’s post had more than 110,000 likes and 13,000 retweets. While Wald claims some of the stolen items were returned to him, he said they were “found on the company’s drawing table.” He went on to add that he believes Crunchyroll employees are not to blame about the situation because “they just walked by the company gift table and thought something looked good.”

“Employees are victims, unwittingly involved in an illegal action ordered by systemically abusive management,” Wald wrote in response to a fan. Wald’s response would echo other fears that the company is invading his privacy as a contractor by allegedly opening his mail.

“Me, thinking: ‘…God, it’s a good thing I didn’t tell them about gay discrimination. Or medical discrimination. Or union repression. Or the continued culture of fear. or the hostile work environment, or…” Wald wrote in a separate tweet from friday.

It should be noted that the company was accused of union busting in 2022, when fellow voice actor Kyle McCarley announced that he would not be reprising his role as Shigeo Kageyama in mafia psychosis 100 third season after Crunchyroll refused to negotiate a union contract between the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists with him and the cast.

Dear coworkers of @Crunchyroll– Below is a photo of the full contents of one of the packages addressed to me that was opened and distributed to employees. If you ended up in possession of anything of his, I would very much like it back. pic.twitter.com/H8Dm8Resf4

– David Wald (@DavidWald_VA) October 25, 2024

When asked if this allegation qualifies as mail fraud, Wald responded by saying he believes it qualifies as mail theft. In terms of the legal jargon of the situation, both mail theft and fraud are federal crimes in the United States. Those convicted of mail theft could face the possibility of a fine of $250,000 or a prison sentence of up to five years, according to the 18th US Code § 1708. Mail fraud, on the other hand, is defined as a federal crime in which someone uses the U.S. Mail with the intent to scheme or defraud someone for financial gain through material misstatements or omissions. Although their definitions are similar, in the latter the guilty party could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000, or both.

His fellow voice actors and fans understandably questioned in his responses why the anime company continually mishandled Wald’s fan mail, and became even angrier when he revealed that no one at Crunchyroll had He responded to any of their emails on the subject.. This, in turn, led fans to flood Crunchyroll’s social media posts with links to Wald’s tweets asking if they would address the situation.

Too true. Except, now that I think about it, I would say that most companies defend their products very enthusiastically. We are staplers, we are post-it notes. We are fragile, but replaceable. We are office supplies.

– David Wald (@DavidWald_VA) October 27, 2024

“Friends, I deeply appreciate your support and encouragement in my current circumstances and I empathize with your anger. To the press that has reached out, know that I would love to speak with you, but I have several meetings ahead of me before I can do so,” Wald wrote in an October 26 tweet. “Thank you all.”

In an email on October 26, Crunchyroll provided a comment to io9 regarding Wald’s allegation, saying it is investigating the matter.

“Anime fans have a special connection with voice actors and that emotional expression is important to fuel more love for anime content. “We are currently investigating the matter regarding the allegation of undelivered fan mail to a voice actor,” Crunchyroll wrote in its response. “We respect the privacy of all our voice actors and do not intentionally open mail or packages that are not intended for Crunchyroll. Any fan mail should be sent directly to the talent and their management.”

While the situation remains sensitive and under investigation, Wald said on Twitter He plans to set up a post office box so fans can send him any artwork and letters directly in the future.

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