On Feb. 19,
Rial tweeted a lengthy post in which she alleged that Vic grabbed her in a hotel room and forcibly kissed her without her consent at an anime convention in 2007.
Rial said that she decided to go public with her account of Mignogna's actions "to put a face to the voices."
"There were so many stories out there, but because they were these faceless voices on the internet, nobody wanted to believe them," Rial said in an interview with
The Dallas Morning News on July 24.
Rial, who has lived in the Dallas area for about a decade, and Marchi, a North Texas resident for 15 years, talked in the July 24 interview about the relentless harassment from Mignogna's fans. Marchi said, "It's been really hard. But I would do it again."
"The greater good was way more important than either one of us in this," she said. "I'm standing up for so many women and victims who feel like they can't say anything."
Rial and Marchi each recounted examples of the backlash since they released their stories on social media: the posting of private information and harassment online and in phone calls, efforts to have the women fired or banned from fan events, and a barrage of death threats.
Marchi said that staff at conventions and studios tell her that they "are constantly getting harassing emails about us. Even our friends or colleagues we've simply done a panel discussion with — they are doxing those people and making it very known ... that they will get the same treatment we are."
Doxing refers to the online posting of personal information, such as home addresses and photos of residences and vehicles. Lemoine said Mignogna's online supporters are using this tactic "in a transparent attempt to intimidate witnesses in this war against two women."
Rial's allegations about the verbal abuse against her in the past six months were similar to Marchi's, and she, too, was steadfast about her actions.
"With everything I've been through — the death threats, the hatred, the trying to ruin my career, trying to get me fired because I came out and told the truth," Rial said. "That is worth it if it saves one woman, one girl from having to deal with this kind of situation again."
Both women also said they were thankful to be in this together. "We know this is going to be awful and who knows how long it's going to be this awful," Rial said. "But as long as we've got each other, and we're standing together strong, let's get the truth out there."
