In the years following the 2013 debut of Adult Swim’s cartoon phenomenon “Rick and Morty,” its star and co-creator Justin Roiland became a titan of the animation and video game industry and a rock star of youth counterculture. His artistic style and caricatures became ubiquitous in cannabis culture, and his career expanded into producing other animated series, creating NFTs and leading a virtual reality gaming studio. In 2017, a “Rick and Morty” collaboration with McDonald’s led to such a viral frenzy that police had to be called to at least two locations.

But as he partied with Los Angeles’ superstars and traveled the country for conventions, he also found he could use his fame to strike up conversations and develop relationships with young fans, including some who were underage. This is according to interviews with 11 women and nonbinary people who shared thousands of messages with Roiland from 2013 to 2022 — with nine of the people saying he turned the exchanges sexual. Of those nine people, three said they were 16 when they started talking to Roiland. To corroborate their stories, the 11 women and nonbinary people also shared pictures, videos, social media posts, emails, and plane ticket and Uber receipts with NBC News.

Warning: Lengthy and graphic details

  • @NOT_RICK
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    221 year ago

    You’re getting downvoted because it’s irrelevant and honestly quite creepy to bring up. There’s plenty of shit people did in the distant and not so distant past that isn’t ok today because we now know better.

    • @UsernameIsTooLon
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      81 year ago

      Rockstars would literally brag about shagging a high schooler. Different times and vibes. We know better now that it’s predatory and we should move forward advancing society with that knowledge.

    • Avid Amoeba
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      1 year ago

      In addition he’s getting downvoted because this is fucking sexist bullshit. In non-sexually repressive environments most kids get sexually attracted to other kids irrespective of their gender fairly early. Arguably girls might get there a couple of years earlier, arguably. And so throughout the gender spectrum people don’t fuck despite their attraction because they have heads on their shoulders as you rightfully point out.