Martin Brygmann has chosen to withdraw as the voice of the character Dr. Nefario in the upcoming animated film “Despicable Me 4”. Tinna Munk, who is the publicity manager at United International Pictures, responsible for distributing the film in Denmark, confirms this decision to Ritzau.
“He has chosen to withdraw himself, and that is what we are dealing with,” says Tinna Munk, emphasizing that the background for his decision will not be further commented on. The film magazine Ekko was the first to report that Brygmann had been replaced, but initially could not confirm the specific circumstances. Tinna Munk stated to Ekko that now voice actor Sonny Lahey is the one lending his voice to Dr. Nefario instead of Brygmann.
The character Dr. Nefario is known as a close friend of the main character in the film series, Gru. Martin Brygmann has previously been the voice of this character, but in the wake of a Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR) documentary on boundary-crossing behavior in the music industry, he has chosen to step down. The documentary, released on June 10, contains testimonies from 13 women describing their experiences of harassment and sexism in the industry. In the first episode, five women come forward and describe boundary-crossing behavior by an anonymous musician, who was later revealed to be Martin Brygmann by DR.
After the documentary’s release, Brygmann has been removed from several booking agencies’ websites, and DR has stated that they will not offer him new assignments at this time. Additionally, Martin Brygmann has decided not to perform at this year’s Smukfest music festival.
In a Facebook post after the documentary’s release, Brygmann wrote that he had been “blind to the fact that my often cheeky and flirtatious humor, which is a part of me both professionally and privately, could be perceived differently and as boundary-crossing.”