Justin Roiland, co-creator, executive producer and star of the Emmy Award-winning animated series Adult Swim Rick and Mortyis facing domestic violence allegations, it was revealed Thursday when he appeared at a pre-trial hearing, which raised the question of what will happen to the show.
Adult Swim, the nighttime version of Cartoon Network, declined to comment on the matter. A lawyer for Roiland proclaimed his client’s innocence.
“It’s hard to overstate how inaccurate the recent media coverage of this situation has been,” T. Edward Welbourn tells Yahoo Entertainment. “To be clear, not only is Justin innocent, but we have every expectation that this case is on track to be dropped once the district attorney’s office has completed its methodical review of the evidence. We look forward to hearing Justin’s to clear his name and help him move forward as quickly as possible.”
Meanwhile, social media users were already speculating that Roiland’s case could or should spell the end.
The show about the adventures of an alcoholic scientist and his teenage grandson, which first aired in 2013, is a ratings hit for the network. When the third season finale aired in October 2017, Adult Swim said it scored the highest ratings in its history. According to TBEN, Rick and Morty was the best comedy on all of U.S. cable in 2018, 2019 and 2021, and the publication cited Nielsen ratings of more than 1 million viewers, including significant viewership gains in coveted demographics, for its sixth-season premiere, which premiered in September. broadcast.
The last new episode – the sixth season finale – aired last month. But more are on the way, as Adult Swim announced in 2018 that it was extending the animated hit for an additional 70 episodes, more than twice as many as had aired at the time. The move was a big deal for the show, which was co-created by Community‘s Dan Harmon, who has faced controversy himself. told showrunner Scott Marder News Week in November that he was already working on season 8.
Rick and Morty is just one of many animated projects Roiland is working on. He is also a co-creator, executive producer and star of Hulu’s Solar Oppositesas well as an executive producer of the streamer’s new show koala male. He also created and lent his voice to the 2022 video game High in life.
Roiland’s appearance in court in Orange County, California, followed his having entered a plea of not guilty in October 2020 for one felony domestic violence involving bodily harm and one felony false imprisonment by threat, violence, fraud and /or fraud, according to NBC News, citing Orange County Superior Court records. The allegations stem from an incident the same year reported by an anonymous woman whom Roiland was then dating.
NBC reported that many documents in the case are under seal, but what is public shows that Roiland was charged in May 2020, before being arrested and released on $50,000 bail in August of that year. He was charged in October 2020, the same month that a protection order, filed against him by someone the network said was unknown to them, required Roiland not to harass, threaten, monitor or come within a radius of 2023 until October 2023. 30 meters to go.
His next pre-trial hearing is scheduled for April 27.
