Roiland’s former fans and dates described disturbing interactions with the animator, with many playing out over texts. One woman said the ‘Rick and Morty’ creator sexually assaulted her, another said she was left ‘traumatized.’ (Warning: This article contains expclicit language.)

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

  • @eslaf
    -5•1 year ago

    Text messages in this Misinformation age are worth shit. Videos can be fake, where not even professionals can tell the difference and AI is on the rise. All legal charges against him where dropped and the accusators admitted that they made it up.

    • @chemical_cutthroat
      8•1 year ago

      The domestic violence charges against him brought forth by his ex were dropped, the accusations of child abuse and assault have not be dropped and are currently ongoing. As far as I can tell no one has said that they “made it up,” including his ex. The domestic violence charges were dropped due to insufficient evidence, which can be hard to prove 3 years after the fact, when he was acquitted. If you have anything to show something contrary, I’ll gladly read it, but if you don’t, please don’t add your voice to the “misinformation age.”

      • @eslaf
        1•1 year ago

        What about no evidence that he did something illegal? He can fly where the fuck and buy and sleep where he wants. That’s no evidence of anything.