Justin Roiland. Photo by Taylor Hill/FilmMagic
Justin Roiland, the co-creator of Adult Swim’s animated hit Rick & Morty, is the subject of an extensive new NBC News investigation containing allegations of inappropriate texting with underage fans and sexual assault.
11 women and nonbinary people came forward with texts, images, and contemporaneous evidence from 2013 to 2022. Nine of Roiland’s accusers allege that Roiland’s messages to them went from friendly to sexual, and three of these individuals claim that they were underage when they first began corresponding with Roiland.
One individual claims she was 20 when Roiland bought her alcoholic drinks during a Tinder date, and sexually assaulted her in his hotel room, forcing her to perform oral sex after she said “no.” “From the moment it happened, I knew that it was not OK,” the accuser said in an interview with NBC. “But I felt a lot of different feelings, like that it was my fault.”
Roiland’s attorney Andrew Brettler called the allegations “false and defamatory” in a statement to NBC News. The FADER has reached out to Brettler for more information.
In January 2023, Roiland was revealed to have been charged in 2020 with felony domestic battery and false imprisonment in California. Roiland denied the accusations and pleaded not guilty. After the report emerged, Roiland was dropped by Adult Swim and 20th Century Fox, and resigned from his independent video game studio Squanch Games. The charges were dismissed in March due to lack of evidence.