I would doubt that Johnny got much, if any, say in it. The one thing I'm now glad of is that it WASN'T Reuben that was forced to say this in Dante's actual voice, though Nero wouldn't say anything so cringe either so it still can't be pleasant for JYB.
Oh I doubt the character's reputation will take much of a hit from this. Thankfully it's an adaptation and not a canon extension of the source material so it has no impact whatsoever on the games. This wont hurt canon Dante's reputation any more than DmC Donte did.