Voice Actor Impostor Saga Has an Almost Happy Ending

Do you know who this woman is? Read below for the final chapter in what has become one of the biggest scandals to rock the Sailor Moon fandom this year!

EDIT (May 29th): The Impostor has finally come forward, and has notified the woman in the false images. We have removed the images now that this mystery is solved, and we will have more to share with you later.



I promised you a bombshell last week, and here it comes. Last year, when I was trying to put things together for the Operation Moonrise campaign and asking Roland Parliament about specific companies involved, he told me that I’d make a great Detective or Investigative Journalist. I kind of agreed with the journalist part, but not so much the detective part as I couldn’t see myself solving any real mysteries. Little did I know less than a year later, I’d be filling that Detective role.

You all probably know most of the story by now. Tuesday, March 30th – I get home after a long day at school, only to find that there’s an e-mail waiting for me from the representatives of Sarah Lafleur asking me to take down a reference to an upcoming interview from an impostor. I write up something quick for the website and leave it to my staff to clear up anything related to this impostor, as I head off to an event feeling a little paralyzed. After years of earning the trust of the other actors I do know, I wondered how I fell for this. But, I am only human, and I will do my best to help fix this situation. I sent every email I had from the impostor to the reps in an effort to help their investigation. I felt for her, Sarah had worked really hard to come up in entertainment, and she has had a string of appearances on big productions in the last few years. It can be difficult for Canadian stars to make it big in Hollywood, but she managed to do it. When I heard that she was going to be on multiple episodes of Ugly Betty last year, I was so glad that an actor who worked on Sailor Moon had come so far! Never mind our reputation with the fans, companies, and other important people involved, but her reputation was also becoming just as damaged (if not more) with these false stories going around.

A week later, a comment on the site frustrates me. A fan says that the blonde we had featured on the site was not Linda Ballantyne at all. At this point, after all of the stuff we had to deal with, I was ready to just chalk this up to a fan just being mean and questioning our accuracy. Though, I did have a hunch go through my mind that maybe I should go back and check the emails I got from Linda. Comparing these headers to the ones on the Sarah Lafleur emails, one very crucial piece of information was common between the two. I couldn’t believe it. I thought, that I would call up Linda’s agent in the morning and get a few things on the site verified oficially. I didn’t want to remove it just yet because I wanted her representatives to see it first.

I had a window of about an hour of free time to make the call, and I was nervous. Thankfully, it wasn't as nerve wracking as some of the first phone calls I had made before sending out the reports for Operation Moonrise. Her agent was super friendly, and did verify that we were dealing with an impostor. We exchanged emails, and I sent everything I had and started to take the Linda posts off the site. I felt for Linda too, because the images we got from the impostor weren’t very professional looking at all. She was shown with a beer at a party, and bowling, and actors rarely ever share personal images like this. And the story about her yelling at a grocery store cashier was probably fake. It was while I was sorting through these emails, that I had a sudden rush of adrenaline come through me and in my mind I thought “NO ONE @#$%! WITH SAILOR MOON ON MY WATCH!” I halted everything, and thought I’d try to solve this mystery of who this impostor might be with all the evidence I had - the one common thread between the two emails, and another tiny piece on what the document properties of the fake Linda Ballantyne interview told me. A couple hours later, I had nailed it. I figured out who it was (with the assistance of some others to verify my hunch was correct - thank you for your help). As soon as I shot off the emails, I called up Linda’s agent again to tell her I had figured out who it was, and it was then that I got the best surprise – Linda was willing to do the interview! I was relieved, that finally I could bring some good news to the fans after a rough couple of weeks. An hour later, I went and I called up Sarah Lafleur’s agent to share that I had figured this out. Sometimes, it takes a lot of convincing to these people that you aren’t a deranged fan but someone who has a legitimate concern, and I really hope that they don’t look down on us or the rest of their actress’ fans because of this. The vast majority of fans aren't crazy like this person was at all.

I have since told every VA that I know to contact Twitter and get a couple names reserved to prevent this from happening, and I sincerely apologized that this happened at all. I have since decided that for every new interview that we are offered, I am going to take extra measures to make sure I am dealing with the real person. For any one else involved with the show that reads this site (I do know of a few of you!) that has not contacted us, please have you, your agents, or other representatives reserve your names on Twitter, you can do this without having to sign up for an account. I don’t want to see this person do it again (and I do think this person would try to do this again some time from now).

Now, as for the impostor, I am sure word of this post will get to you somehow. And don't try to deny that it wasn't you (or come up with some other crazy excuse), we have a lot of solid proof that it was you that did this, so don't try to hide. No, I’m not going to name you on this site. But, I will say this to you. This act of yours was pretty low. And, we thought that you couldn’t stoop any lower especially given how you continued to label us as liars all over the internet after we had officially debunked a rumor you had started years ago. You fought hell and high water to convince all the fans that you were the one that was telling the truth, in spite of our many phone calls and other investigations to prove that your little rumor was not true at all. No, I’m not going to link users to those posts on this subject or they will instantly know who you are. I believe that you should be the one that reveals yourself to the fans, and everyone else involved in this scandal for what you have done. Don't dismiss what we are about to tell you as rubbish.

And, here’s what you need to do (and you have to do this because you've caused too much damage):

1. Apologize to me, and the rest of the staff of Moon Chase for what you did. We’ll probably never know the reason why you picked these stars to impersonate, but given our reputation with a lot of movers and shakers involved with Sailor Moon, we had to work very hard to fix the damage you caused us. We were lucky enough that with a lot of hard work everyone was sympathetic this time, but the next time we have to clean up your mess, you could ruin it not just for us but for every other fan of Sailor Moon.

2. Apologize to the two stars you victimized. Do this publicly, or contact us and we will forward your apologies to the relevant parties. And be sincere about it, no simple sorries. You hurt the reputation of two stars, and maybe you don’t understand what this means in the entertainment industry. And you stole their identities. How would you feel if someone pretended to be you for a few months and started to write fake stories about you all over? A lot of important people use our site as a measure of fan buzz around certain projects or an actor, so try putting yourself in this position. How would you feel if a potential employer based their professional image of you on phony stories posted on the internet?

You also owe an apology to the other stars of Sailor Moon that you interacted with and pretended to be these people to. You took the camaraderie between the cast for granted. Not even I try to pretend to be "part of the cast" when I communicate with any of them. It is very likely that you are making them think twice about the kinds of fans that they communicate and interact with. Again, when you are ready with your words, forward them to us and we will send them to their representatives.

3. Apologize to the blonde woman whose photo you used mercilessly to portray Linda Ballantyne. We don't know who she is, but we're betting she's someone close that you know based on the photos we have seen of her at a birthday party and bowling. Perhaps, you are alright with having your own photo plastered around as a celebrity to give you more attention, but others are most definitely not, in an industry where image is VERY important. You have hurt her identity as well, because now it is possible that she will be recognized as Linda Ballantyne, and not for her real identity. There are still some images of this blonde woman being passed around the internet as the real Linda Ballantyne, and it will be very difficult to remove all of them given the nature of the internet. This damage that you have caused is a lot more severe than you will ever understand. Tell her that the photos you posted of her are going to be displayed as official images on several sites for Linda Ballantyne, so that when you or her see it, you can get them removed. Because, this person could also be charged with identity theft even though it was you that posted the image (still want to hide and let people that don't even know you did this suffer?). We're not going to clean up this mess for you. It's about time you took some responsibility for your actions. In case you have forgotten whose image you used, we've amalgamated all of them into one for you below. Likewise, if any of our readers know the identity (and also contact information) of this woman please let us know so that we can tell her what this impostor has done. We will remove these images once this woman has been identified and notified of what has happened (As of May 29th, we have been notified that she has been notified).

4. This, you must do too. Apologize to all of the fans you have led for a ride with the various rumors about Sailor Moon you have started, and maintained were true even in the face of legitimate evidence that you were the one who was lying. Of course though, you’ve been doing this for years, and we don’t know if you will ever stop. Know now, that we are watching everything that you are saying and we will always be there to get official statements from relevant parties debunking your rumors. The next time we hear of a sensational rumor, you will be at the top of our list of people who we think started it.

5. Never do anything like this EVER again. All parties from all sides are watching what is going on. The situation is very serious, and if you pull anything like this, you will not be the only one that has to pay, but the fans as well. You will ruin the reputation of this site and others, and actors will think twice about interacting with fans because of the damage you have caused. If you want respect from Sailor Moon fans, try being nice for once and not craving attention constantly by posting fake rumors or being "the first" to notice an actor's presence on the internet. You may get more than you ever expected by just being a nice fan.

I can’t report on what action is being taken, but that all of the evidence I have has been passed on to representatives of both actresses. The happy ending that I can share with you, is that two weeks ago I received a couple signed photos from Sarah Lafleur in the mail, and a note that simply said “Thanks for all your help!” I have scanned one of the photos for you all to see below. Also through every step of the investigation, Linda as well as her agent have thanked and told me how they appreciated all my sleuthing. This all means a lot to me and my staff, and once again we promise that the next time an opportunity like this rolls around again with an actor we have not previously encountered, we will take measures to ensure we have the real one and not an impostor. I have always felt that I have had a lot to prove when it comes to writing, and I am thankful for everyone who has not lost faith in me, our staff, and our site in the face of what has happened. And Roland, a special thanks to you for encouraging me that I’d make a great detective and investigative journalist. This experience has made me believe it, too.

Please do not repost this image in any form anywhere else.