Troy Baker – the voice behind many of gaming’s biggest franchises – caused a Twitter storm after tweeting what many saw as a transphobic joke.
Troy Baker is by far the biggest star name in the gaming industry with his voice being used in games including The Last of Us, Call of Duty and Metal Gear Solid, but his decision to use a joke about singer Brett Michaels and Caitlyn Jenner has left him in a lot of hot water.
According to Forbes, the tweet, which has subsequently been deleted, was attributed to writer Brian W. Foster who had apparently originally tweeted: “Brett Michaels looks like Mickey Rourke tried to become Caitlyn Jenner”, although no trace of Foster’s alleged original tweet remains on the site now either.
Hundreds of Twitter users took to Twitter to criticise the voiceover star for his choice of joke only for Baker to suggest that people have been rising to take offence to something too quickly.
It’s a shame when there are people who would much rather choose to be offended than laugh.
— Troy Baker (@TroyBakerVA) July 22, 2015
He subsequently followed up by announcing: “I quit Twitter” — although at time of writing his account was still active.
One of those who commented on the controversy was head of the video game company Giant Spacekat, Brianna Wu, who spoke at Inspirefest 2015 last month of her experiences with receiving abuse and death threats through Twitter.
RE: Troy Baker quitting Twitter. There is no excuse for harassment, But transphobic jokes aren’t acceptable in 2015 – the critique was fair.
— Brianna Wu (@Spacekatgal) July 23, 2015
A cis person telling people they should laugh at a transphobic joke isn’t a helpful response. All professionals should avoid these “jokes”
— Brianna Wu (@Spacekatgal) July 23, 2015
Troy Baker at a convention image via IQRemix/Flickr
Updated Thursday 23 July, 17.45pm: This article was updated to reflect the fact that Troy Baker’s account is still active on Twitter
