‘Rick & Morty’ Justin Roiland has been acquitted of domestic violence charges

March 23, 2023

The charges, which date back to 2020, were dropped after Hulu and Adult Swim cut ties with the creator.

“Rick and Morty” creator Justin Roiland has denied domestic violence allegations dating back to an incident in 2020.

The Orange County District Attorney’s Office officially dropped criminal charges against Roiland after Adult Swim and Hulu cut ties with the showrunner in January 2023. “Today we dismissed the charges due to insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt,” Orange County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Kimberly Edds said in a statement shared with the media.

Roiland took to social media to announce that “justice” had been served.

Roiland wrote that she was “grateful that the case was dismissed” and added, “I am still deeply shaken by the terrible lies that were reported about me throughout the process. Most of all, I am disappointed that so many people were so quick to judge without knowing the facts, based solely on the words of a bitter ex who tried to bypass the legal process and “get it out.”

He added: “It’s a shame that it even partially succeeded. However, now that the legal case is over, I am determined to move on and focus on both my creative projects and restoring my reputation.”

Roiland previously appeared in court in January 2023 for a preliminary hearing after being charged with one count of domestic abuse with bodily injury and one count of imprisonment for false threats, violence, fraud and/or deception. In 2020, he pleaded not guilty to the charges. According to the news, the second preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 27.

Back in January, Roiland stepped down from Squanch Games, the video game development banner he co-founded, after Adult Swim left him.

Roiland created the popular animated series “Rick and Morty” alongside Dan Harmon. Roiland voiced both of the show’s main characters, scientist Rick Sanchez and his grandson Morty Smith.

THE Hollywood Reporter The exposé included troubling toxic workplace allegations against Roiland in February 2023. Former Mad magazine editor Allie Goertz and writer of the upcoming “Rick & Morty” concept album shared that Roiland directly messaged her asking, “Can you write a song about 9.” Dicks of various sizes and ethnicities hang over your face, and then the lyrics describe how they squirt you with sperm (?).” Roiland also allegedly sent her pornographic GIFs and offered them to her.

Goertz told THR, “I really think in a lot of ways he took advantage of someone who couldn’t have been a bigger fan.”

Roiland allegedly wrote to another woman, then a minor, who uploaded the conversation to Twitter: “You should just run away from home and go into sex slavery YOU DRY STUPID Bitch (!!!) (Jk).”

The “Rick & Morty” writers’ room reportedly saw similar behavior, welcoming famous fans of the show such as Kanye West and porn star Riley Reid to the production offices and marking the rare occasion Roiland showed up to work.

After the first batch of female writers were hired on Season 3 of the Adult Swim series, her demeanor reportedly changed. Multiple sources told THR that Roiland sent a “really creepy” text to a female employee late at night asking her to come to his home so he could have a threesome with his partner. “He didn’t want to run it up the flagpole, and then it was just a really frickin’ awkward thing,” a source said.

Roiland was accused of sexual harassment towards the end of the 2020 season, leading to a formal investigation by Cartoon Network into his inappropriate behavior.

Roiland’s attorney, T. Edward Welbourn, told IndieWire in January that “it’s hard to overstate how inaccurate the media’s recent coverage of this situation has been” regarding Roiland’s pending felony domestic violence charge.

“To be clear, not only is Justin innocent, but we have every expectation that this case will be dismissed once the district attorney’s office has completed its methodical review of the evidence,” Welbourn said. “We look forward to clearing Justin’s name and helping him move forward as quickly as possible.”