With Rick and Morty gearing up for its return – which is obviously the first that doesn’t feature the involvement of star, co-creator, writer, executive producer, and director Justin Roiland for reasons that should be as clear as day – the last thing the long-running animated favorite needed was its disgraced alumni ending up back in the headlines.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened after another new report from NBC News interviewed 11 people, nine of whom alleged that Roiland made a concerted effort to move their online conversations into overtly sexual territory, with three of them claiming to be just 16 years old at the time.
Receipts were even provided by way of photos, videos, social media posts, emails, and plenty more besides, painting an even more damning picture of a once-beloved figurehead of the geek community that’s seen their reputation and career take a battering in the face of multiple accusations.
Of course, Roiland was cleared of domestic violence charges back in March, but that hasn’t prevented his legal team from repurposing the exact same statement when confronted with the latest bombshells. When pressed for comment by Variety, lawyer Andrew Bettler refused to offer anything substantial and instead pointed the outlet in the direction of the social media post made by his client back in March when the aforementioned charges were ditched.
Beyond that, NBC News offered in its own story that Brettler had called the new allegations “false and defamatory.” As of yet, that’s about as willing as either Roiland or his representatives have been to confront the situation head-on, but this is far from the end of it.
