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Rick and Morty drops co-creator Justin Roiland after domestic abuse charges

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  • US TV channel Adult Swim has dropped Rick and Morty co-creator and voice actor Justin Roiland as he awaits trial on domestic violence charges.
  • According to reports, Roiland was charged with domestic battery and false imprisonment in May 2020 after an incident with a woman he was dating.
  • He has since pleaded not guilty at multiple court hearings; a trial date is not currently set.

US TV channel Adult Swim has dropped Rick and Morty co-creator and voice actor Justin Roiland as he awaits trial on domestic violence charges.

The network, which airs Rick and Morty, announced that it has cut ties with Roiland and will be recasting his voice roles on the show.

A statement tweeted from the show's verified account on Wednesday said: "Adult Swim has ended its association with Justin Roiland. Rick and Morty will continue. The talented and dedicated crew are hard at work on season 7."

Per NBC News, the first to publicly report on the case, Roiland was charged with domestic battery and false imprisonment in May 2020 after an incident with a woman he was dating. He appeared in court on 12 January for a pre-trial hearing.

In the criminal complaint, Roiland is charged with one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit.

The voice of protagonists Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith in the adult animation was charged in May 2020, arrested and released on a $50 000 bond in August 2020 and arraigned in October 2020, per the court records.

A trial date is not currently set.

In a 2022 interview with News24, Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon and Showrunner Scott Marder discussed cancel culture and how they maintain an edgy, boundary-pushing story, concept and language used in the show. 

"We've tried to avoid pop culture, and we try to avoid visiting an issue even metaphorically," Harmon said.

He explained that the dialogue of the show "has always brushed up against hot buttons" but that "there's an increased awareness that the audience is global and that they're all connected, and you can't just throw out a joke about Lou Gehrig's disease without getting a tweet the next day from someone who's suffering from it."

Marder added: "We try not to let it inhibit us from – we try to take full swings at everything on an everyday basis and, you know, not let that sort of stifle us."

READ MORE | We talk to the Rick and Morty team about the new season, life being meaningless, and cancel culture

Seasons 1 to 6 of Rick and Morty are available on Netflix.


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