Highlights
- Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland faces new accusations of sexual misconduct, including inappropriate messaging with fans and pressuring them into non-consensual acts.
- NBC News interviewed more than 10 alleged victims and analyzed text messages that support the majority of the accusations against Roiland.
- Roiland has been dismissed from Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites, resigned from Squanch Games, and withdrawn from other projects. The negative attention will likely have a detrimental impact on his career.
Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland is again the subject of sexual misconduct accusations as new alleged victims come forward.
Rick and Morty is an adult animated science fiction comedy series that follows the two titular characters, the super genius mad scientist Rick Sanchez and his often fretful grandson and occasionally unwilling assistant, as they embark on wacky, dangerous, and intriguing interdimensional shenanigans when they’re not dealing with the fallout from their dysfunctional family unit. The series has since amassed a cult following, with fans praising co-creator Roiland for voice acting the two protagonists, among other background work on the show. However, Roiland would be accused of felony domestic violence, which opened up a stream of reports about the Rick and Morty creator's purported long history of problematic behavior.
While the domestic violence charges against Roiland were eventually dismissed, the former Rick and Morty showrunner’s post-court statement seemingly sidestepped other misconduct accusations, leading to many questioning his innocence. Now, a report from NBC seems to have given credence to those suspicions. New misconduct accusations have been leveled against the creator, revealing that he abused his position as showrunner of Rick and Morty. According to the report, Roiland inappropriately messaged fans and invited them to rendezvous that purportedly routinely included Roiland putting pressure on them to engage in alcohol and non-consensual sexual acts with the women. At the time, some of these women were not yet of legal age.
NBC interviewed more than 10 alleged victims and perused thousands of text messages between the women in question and Roiland, sent over the decade-long tenure of Rick and Morty. Roiland's legal representative, Andrew Brettler, dismissed the report as false and defamatory. Despite this dismissal, NBC maintains the bulk of the accusations are substantiated by the text messages detailing the conversations. This spells bad news and potentially renewed legal battles for Roiland, who already had his Rick and Morty voice roles put up for recasting as part of Adult Swim's attempts to cut ties with him.
With the trend of actions and accusations following the first allegation against Roiland (dismissed due to lack of evidence and not conclusively proven false), the former Rick and Morty star might have seen this second wave of controversy coming. In addition to his dismissal from the Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites projects by Adult Swim, Roiland resigned from his position at High on Life developer Squanch Games. However, this doesn’t stop him from benefiting from the show’s success, as fans will likely find it easy to separate the art from the artist due in part to the show being animated.
While nothing has been proven in court, Rick and Morty is better off without Roiland involved. Even if nothing goes to trial or Roiland comes out unscathed, the negative attention garnered from the proceedings will likely be a net negative for the popular projects he helped kick off. In the more likely instance of demonstrable wrongdoing on his part, fans can hope to return to their regularly scheduled viewing after justice is served.
Rick and Morty seasons 1-6 are available on Max.
Source: NBC News