'Rick and Morty' Insiders Talk About Justin Roiland's Behavior
by EG
Justin Roiland's ouster from Rick and Morty and other projects after charges of domestic abuse were filed against him came as a surprise to most fans of the show. But now people who have worked with him on his projects are coming forward with stories of inappropriate behavior that stretches back for years. Read on for details.
On Jan. 9, Hulu debuted its animated comedy Koala Man, the latest installment in what was then Justin Roiland’s sprawling empire. An absurdist superhero series that features a voice cast with Hugh Jackman and Succession‘s Sarah Snook, the project seemed to cap off a particularly prolific period for its producer. In a matter of months, Roiland had released a hit video game, put a collection of paintings on exhibit, aired a sixth season of his Adult Swim juggernaut Rick and Morty, and snagged a fifth season for his other Hulu series, Solar Opposites.
Three days later, that image as a high-flying animation maestro came crashing down. On Jan. 12, NBC News revealed that Roiland was facing two felony charges in Orange County stemming from an alleged 2020 domestic violence incident that occurred with a woman he was dating at the time. That August, he was arrested and released on bail. Roiland has pleaded not guilty. The news, which blindsided both his employers and his colleagues, was greeted with an outpouring of other troubling revelations surrounding his online interactions, with multiple women publishing lewd messages they claimed to have received from Roiland. He direct-messaged former Mad magazine editor Allie Goertz, a longtime fan who was prepping a Rick and Morty concept album: “Can you write a song about 9 Dick’s of different sized and ethnic origins hanging above your face, and then in the lyrics describe how they each splatter you with semen.” He allegedly messaged another woman, who posted the exchange using an anonymous Twitter account and claimed to have been underage when they began corresponding, “You should just run away from home and go into sex slavery YOU FUCKING STUPID FAGGOT BITCH (!!!) (Jk).”
Over the next two weeks, insiders say, advertisers panicked, lawyers huddled and, ultimately, one of the biggest names in animation watched as his career imploded. Roiland was stripped of his lucrative overall deal at Disney’s 20th Television Animation, and both Adult Swim (Rick and Morty) and Hulu (Solar Opposites, Koala Man) released statements that they had severed ties. Roiland will be replaced as the voices of Rick, Morty and Solar‘s alien scientist Korvo going forward. Even Squanch Games, the video game studio that he co-founded in 2016, announced that he’d resigned as CEO. Roiland, who declined to comment for this story, is due back in court for another pretrial hearing in late April.
To many of Roiland’s colleagues, the criminal charges came as a shock, but they also point to workplace behavior that has made them uncomfortable for years. According to multiple sources, who would speak only on the condition of anonymity, Roiland once paraded a high-profile porn star through the Rick and Morty writers room, openly discussed threesomes and was involved in at least one instance of alleged sexual harassment during the show’s third season, notably its first with female writers. In 2020, Cartoon Network, for which Adult Swim is the nighttime arm, conducted a formal investigation that examined Roiland’s inappropriate workplace conduct. It’s uncertain what, if any, actions were taken. Cartoon Network declined to comment.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.