Criminal charges of domestic violence against Justin Roiland, the co-creator of the popular Adult Swim animated show Rick and Morty, have been dismissed. The announcement was made Wednesday morning in Orange Country, California, and is, according to Roiland, “justice.” As for the Rick and Morty fandom — they still want to know about those creepy private messages the purported funnyman allegedly sent to minors.
After Roiland’s domestic violence case reached the public in January, the animator was accused of misconduct towards underage girls that has since been described as grooming. In a series of disturbing private messages on Roilands personal Instagram account, the 43-year-old allegedly asked multiple young girls to partake in vulgar physical activities. He has yet to address these allegations head-on, and for some fans, that’s damning enough.
Some consider the graphic and vile messages the real reason he was canceled. They want to know why Roiland has continued to let it go unaddressed.
In addition to the alleged messages, Roiland has been accused of being a nightmare to work with, which resulted in multiple sources from his various shows speaking out about his unprofessional and unproductive on-set behavior (or lack thereof).
The mistrust in the fandom runs so deep that some have a hard time believing a “dismissed” domestic violence equates to actual innocence.
Adult Swim severed its ties with Roiland shortly after the domestic violence allegations reached the public in Jan. It confirmed that Roiland would not be a part of the seventh season of Rick and Morty.
Adult Swim was undoubtedly on Roiland’s mind when he posted a lengthy proclamation of his innocence to his Twitter account. In it, he admitted to feeling disappointed by the public’s shameful willingness to believe the “horrible lies” said about him in the press. He put the blame on his “embittered ex” who he claims tried to “bypass due process and have me ‘canceled’.”
Still, the fandom isn’t having it.
Roiland ended his public statement with the assurance that he would “move forward” and focus his energy on creating future “creative projects.” He says he is committed to “restoring my good name.” Unfortunately, given the public’s reaction to this news, any such feat is going to be an uphill battle for the once-respected animator with no guarantee that it will ever level out.