A voice actress well-known for her work in the Final Fantasy video games franchise has claimed she was hacked after fans noticed her social media account had ‘liked’ posts from right-wing accounts and those critical of gender ideology.
On October 30, X user @starrdiver pointed out Susan Calloway, a vocalist on the Final Fantasy XIV video game, had recently ‘liked’ posts from gender-critical athlete Riley Gaines, Reduxx writer Genevieve Gluck, and some other posts from conservative group Turning Point USA.
Initially, Calloway claimed that she was “hacked,” as she hadn’t “been on Twitter that much.”
But her claims were quickly refuted after other users on X noted that Calloway’s account had liked conservative-leaning posts throughout the year, and that she had been active on the site during October.
Others highlighted that Calloway’s Instagram account seemed to show a similar political pattern, with the voice actress following a gender critical podcast, and controversial Canadian psychologist Dr. Jordan Peterson.
As scrutiny continued to grow and accusations of “transphobia” and “bigotry” began to roll in, Calloway hastily deleted her social media accounts.
On November 1, Calloway was disinvited from fan convention KupoCon after the event organizers claimed that they had received “various threats” due to her planned attendance.
“KupoCon stands as a family friendly event and an inclusive and safe environment for all. The recent incident has deeply troubled us all, and we are striving to navigate an extremely challenging situation with a multitude of strong and differing opinions,” the convention said in a statement.
“We urge the wider community to remember that mob-like behavior and abuse are unacceptable. Hatred is not something we endorse. We implore everyone to practice kindness and respect.”
The next day, Calloway published a “letter to fans” on her personal website, claiming that her “Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter account [were] hacked multiple times” over the past two years, adding that she was “working closely with professionals” to stop the account compromises.
“I support and love ALL people from all walks of life. I am not anti anyone, especially those in the more vulnerable communities like LGBTQ,” Calloway said.
“I have friends from literally all walks of life – trans, gay, straight, right wing, left wing, moderate, young, old, religious, not religious, and everything in between. No matter what country, nationality, or social group, I believe we all have a fundamental right to be treated with love, respect, equality, and dignity. We all deserve to pursue our dreams and to walk in peace and love with each other. That’s what I believe and that is what my platform has consistently supported.”
Calloway did not mention in the statement what other “hacking experiences” she had suffered apart from the alleged hackers “liking some offensive and controversial posts” on social media.
Despite the groveling statement, trans activists are not satisfied, and have since targeted KupoCon for not directly addressing Calloway’s alleged “bigotry” in their statement.
“To anybody who believes ‘let her have opinions, it doesn’t affect you!’ Bro, any type of ‘opinion’ that has to do with hating a certain group of people is not acceptable and never will be acceptable.”
