Crunchyroll responds to voice actor allegations of mail theft

Veteran voice actor made a statement on social networks about the power of anime Crunchyroll allegedly opened his personal email, threw away the letters, and distributed fan-made trinkets and artwork to his employees for the past five years.

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

“Yesterday I learned that Crunchyroll opened my personal email, threw out your emails, and distributed all the content included in them to their employees,” Wald wrote on October 25.

Dear Friends: If you sent me anything about Funimation or Crunchyroll in the last 5 years, I’m sorry, I didn’t receive it. I found out yesterday that @Crunchyroll opened my personal mail, threw out your letters and distributed all the letters included in them to my employees.

— David Wald (@DavidWald_VA) October 25, 2024

At the time of writing, Wald’s post has received more than 110,000 likes and 13,000 retweets. Although Wald claims some of the stolen items were returned to him, he said they “found on company gift distribution table” He further added that, in his opinion, Crunchyroll employees are not to blame for the situation because “they just walked by the company freebie table and thought something looked cool.”

“Employees are victims, unwittingly engaged in illegal activities at the orders of systematically abusive management,” Wald wrote in response to the fan. Wald’s response echoes other concerns that the company is invading his privacy as a contractor by allegedly opening his mail.

“I think: “…God, it’s good that I didn’t tell them about discrimination against gays. Or medical discrimination. Or the collapse of the trade union. Or a constant culture of fear. or a hostile work environment, or…” Wald wrote in separate Friday tweet.

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

Dear colleagues at work in @Crunchyroll– below is a photo of the full contents of one of the parcels addressed to me, opened and distributed to employees. If you happen to have any of this, I would really like it to be returned to me. pic.twitter.com/H8Dm8Resf4

— David Wald (@DavidWald_VA) October 25, 2024

When asked if the charge qualifies as mail fraud, Wald said he believes it qualifies as mail theft. From a legal perspective, both mail theft and fraud are federal crimes in the United States. Those found guilty of mail theft could face a fine of $250,000 or up to five years in prison, according to police. 18 US Code § 1708. Mail fraud, on the other hand, is defined as a federal crime when someone uses the U.S. mail with the intent to plan or defraud someone for financial gain through material misrepresentations or omissions. Although their definitions are similar, in the latter case the perpetrator can be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000, or both.

Understandably, fellow voice actors and fans in his responses questioned why the anime company kept mishandling Wald’s fan mail, and became even angrier when he revealed that no one at Crunchyroll did. responded to any of his letters on this matter. This, in turn, led to fans flooding Crunchyroll’s social media posts with links to Wald’s tweets asking whether they would address the situation.

Too true. Except now that I think about it, I’d say most companies protect their products with great enthusiasm. We are staplers, We are stickers. We are fragile, but we can be replaced. 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 share your anger. To the press that has reached out to you, please know that I would love to talk to you, but I have several meetings ahead of me before I can do so,” Wald wrote in an Oct. 26 tweet. “Thank you everyone.”

In an October 26 email, Crunchyroll commented to io9 about Wald’s allegations, saying it was investigating the matter.

“Anime fans have a special connection with voice acting talent, and this emotional expression is important to loving anime content even more. We are currently investigating an allegation of non-delivery of fan mail to the voice actor,” Crunchyroll wrote in its response. “We respect the privacy of all our voice actors and do not knowingly open mail or packages not intended for Crunchyroll. Any fan mail should be sent directly to the talent and their management.”

Although the situation remains sensitive and under investigation, Wald said on Twitter he plans to install a mailbox so that in the future fans can send him any artwork or letters directly.

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