Following reports that the co-creator of Rick and Morty had been charged with felony domestic abuse in Orange County, Adult Swim severed their relationship with Justin Roiland.
Adult Swim senior vp communications Marie Moore said in a statement on Tuesday that “Adult Swim has ended its association with Justin Roiland.”
Roiland co-created, executive produced, and delivered the voices for both the titular Rick and Morty in the popular adult animated comedy series Rick and Morty, which is distributed by Adult Swim. The show, one of the network’s most well-known series, was commissioned by the channel in 2018 and Adult Swim isn’t even halfway through a massive 70-episode order for it, as The Hollywood Reporter revealed on Jan. 17.
According to sources, Roiland’s vocal roles in Rick and Morty will be recast. Even though Dan Harmon, another co-creator, will now be the only showrunner, Roiland will always be given credit as a co-creator. The program has a contract through season 10.
Roiland is still working on a number of projects with Hulu, including as the co-creator of the streaming service’s Solar Opposites, in which he lends his voice to a major role (the show was renewed for a fifth season in October). Roiland provides the voices for the platform’s Koala Man, which debuted on January 9. She also serves as the executive producer. Additionally, Roiland continues to be under a contract with 20th Television Animation, the company that makes Solar Opposites and Koala Man.
He was charged with one count of felony assault with corporal injury and one count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud, or deceit in Orange County on Jan. 12; the charges stem from an alleged incident with an unnamed Jane Doe that Roiland was dating at the time. NBC News was the first to report the news. In 2020, Roiland was released on a $50,000 bond after filing a not guilty plea. Roiland has previously appeared in a number of pretrial hearings and is scheduled to do so again on April 27.
Edward Welbourn, the lawyer for Roiland, stated in a statement earlier this month that the media’s reporting on the matter has been “inaccurate.” Welbourn added, “To be clear, not only is Justin innocent but we also have every expectation that this matter is on course to be dismissed once the district attorney’s office has completed its methodical review of the evidence.” The Hollywoodreporter wrote.