Voice actor Johnathon Rees (who goes by his stage name, Greg Ellis) was arrested by the Chenango County Sheriff’s Office last week on a number of different charges related to harassing his ex-girlfriend and threatening her with revenge porn. Rees voiced the character of Cullen Rutherford in Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Rees’ charges include three counts of coercion, one count of unlawful surveillance, and one count of aggravated harassment and unlawful dissemination or publication of an intimate image. The charges are tied to a breakup in 2022, during which he reportedly threatened to post “revenge porn” of his ex. Rees was also charged with perjury and “offering a false instrument for filing,” which refers to the act of knowingly submitting a falsified document to a public office or government agency with the intention of having it be accepted as an official record. The false filing and unlawful surveillance charges are both felonies, while the others are classified as misdemeanors.
Per court documents, Rees was in a relationship with one Jane Doe from April 2016 to September 2022. On September 6, Doe broke up with Rees and cut off all communication with him. The 56-year-old actor allegedly responded to the breakup by engaging in a harassment campaign (including threats of self-harm and threats of posting intimate images of Doe) in an effort to get his ex to respond to his messages. In his preliminary statement, Rees stated that he is a “public figure” and noted that he has more than 65,000 followers on Twitter and 17,000 followers on Instagram.
According to court documents, within a month of Doe breaking up with him, Rees began messaging Doe’s friends and family, sharing personal information and illicit photos of her.
In November 2022, Rees testified in open court, where he admitted to attempting to use revenge porn to force Doe into responding to him. Rees was hit with a domestic violence restraining order as a result. Several days later, on November 25, Rees allegedly attempted to intimidate a third-party witness to prevent them from testifying against him. On November 26, Rees made a post to social media claiming he would reveal the plaintiff’s identity.
After receiving a Notice to Appear earlier this week, Rees turned himself into the Chenago County Sheriff’s Office, where he was processed arraigned, and released. He is scheduled to appear in court at a later date.
This isn’t the first time Rees has found himself in hot water. On Dragon Age Day in 2020, Ellis posted a 40-minute rant–while wearing a cosplay of his Dragon Age character–in which he lambasted various parties (including former Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah, women, and Dragon Age fans) for partaking in “cancel culture” after being called out for his sexist and transphobic views.
Rees’ character did not appear in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
