Young Maylay, the actor who voiced CJ in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, has recently refuted the long-standing rumor that he was dissatisfied with his voice acting pay.
The immense popularity of GTA 6 has already confirmed that Rockstar's flagship series is one of the most influential IPs in the gaming industry. For any actor involved, this represents an excellent career opportunity, especially for those portraying core protagonists like Tommy, CJ, Michael, Niko, and Franklin.
Starring in Rockstar games has had mixed effects: Roger Clark grew to love his role as Arthur Morgan, while Steven Ogg has been troubled by being constantly typecast as Trevor. Some actors have even publicly expressed dissatisfaction with the final product, but fortunately, the voice actor for CJ, one of the most iconic protagonists in the GTA series, is not among them.
For a long time, players generally believed that Young Maylay, who voiced Carl Johnson (CJ), was dissatisfied with his work on what is widely considered the pinnacle of the series. The controversy began in 2020 when Maylay accused Rockstar of being "cultural vultures" profiting from depicting gang culture, which many interpreted as him feeling underpaid.
Maylay may indeed be unwilling to work with Rockstar again, but the reason has nothing to do with pay. Earlier this week, Ned Luke, who voiced Michael De Santa, released the latest episode of his podcast "The Final Mission," featuring Young Maylay as a guest. As Twitter user papaRPG_ discovered, Maylay used this opportunity to clarify the rumors surrounding the pay dispute.
Maylay called these rumors "misunderstandings," stating that he was aware of his compensation standards when he signed the contract. He also mentioned that no one knows his actual earnings from voicing the game; upon its release, Rockstar gave him an unexpected bonus and a care package, treating him "much better" than he had anticipated.
Maylay also pointed out that Rockstar could have made anyone famous by casting them as CJ. He finally stated that the rumors about his pay were nonsense, and if he had been unhappy with the compensation, he wouldn't have taken the project in the first place. Judging from his previous statements, while he may not fully endorse Rockstar as a whole, the reason is definitely not related to pay.
Of course, there are precedents for GTA series actors being unhappy with their pay. Michael Hollick, who voiced Niko Bellic, publicly stated that he worked on the then-global blockbuster game for 15 months but only received a fixed fee of $100,000. However, he primarily criticized the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) rather than Rockstar.