Inside Justin Roiland’s shocked dismissal as the Rick & Morty star fired after domestic violence charges

Until recently, animator and voice actor Justin Roiland was best known for being a co-creator on the popular comedy series Rick and Morty.

He even had a starring role voicing the two main characters of the series – which he created with Dan Harmon.

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However, it was revealed earlier this week that he will no longer be working on the program.

Cable TV network Adult Swim tweeted that they cut ties with the star entirely after he was accused of domestic violence and false imprisonment.

The 42-year-old has vehemently denied all allegations, his lawyer saying: “To be clear, Not only is Justin innocent, but we have the expectation that this matter will be dismissed once prosecutors have completed their methodical review of the evidence.” .”

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allegations of abuse

Roiland pleaded not guilty to felonies of assault and false imprisonment.

The charges follow an incident in January 2020 involving an anonymous woman he was dating at the time, according to a criminal complaint by NBC News.

Roiland was arrested in 2020 and released on $50,000 bail after pleading not guilty, and a pre-trial is scheduled for April.

In a statement, one of Roiland’s lawyers wrote, “We look forward to clearing Justin’s name and helping him move forward as quickly as possible.”

Phenomenal successes then fall from grace

Before the allegations came to light, Roiland’s career was going from strength to strength, and the voice actor enjoyed a decade of phenomenal success.

Rick and Morty first premiered in 2013 and garnered critical acclaim around the world, even winning two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Animated Series.

The cult-fan-favorite series isn’t Roiland’s only commercial success, however.

He also created the X-Box game High On Life, which came out just last month, and guest-starred on Adventure Time and Gravity Falls.

He also signed a deal with Hulu to create another animated sci-fi sitcom called Solar Opposites and released an NFT art collection in 2021 that sold for over $1.65 million.

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Push aside

However, when the domestic violence charges came to light, Roiland was quickly pulled from his pivotal role in “Rick and Morty,” which premiered in September last year.

The cable channel wrote on the show’s official Twitter account: “Adult Swim has ended their collaboration with Justin Roiland.

“Rick and Morty will continue… The talented and dedicated crew is hard at work on Season 7.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Roiland’s speaking roles will be recast and Dan Harmon, who voices Birdperson, will remain sole creator through season 10.

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“I never saw his show again”

The criminal charges are not the only allegations that have come to light recently.

Shortly after being accused of domestic violence, US musician Allie Goertz tweeted a series of offensive private Twitter messages she allegedly received from the cartoonist.

Tweeting screenshots of the messages she claimed came from Roiland, Allie said: “I’ll be sharing the types of ‘funny’ DMs Justin Roiland would send me.

“I was worried about any backlash, but this guy made ME – someone who wrote a Rick & Morty concept album – never see his show again.”