Adult Swim Drops Justin Roiland Following Domestic Abuse Charges – The Hollywood Reporter

Adult Swim has cut ties with Justin Roiland in the wake of the news that the Rick and Morty co-creator was charged with felony domestic abuse in Orange County.

“Adult Swim has ended its association with Justin Roiland,” Adult Swim/Cartoon Network/Boomerang svp communications Mairie Moore said in a statement on Tuesday.

Adult Swim distributes Rick and Morty, the hit adult animation comedy that Roiland co-created and executive produced, and for which he voiced both the titular Rick and Morty. As The Hollywood Reporter reported on Jan. 17, Adult Swim isn’t even halfway through a massive 70-episode order for the show, one of the brand’s most popular titles, commissioned by the channel in 2018.

Sources say Rick and Morty is set to continue, with Roiland’s voice roles to be re-cast. Though Roiland will always be credited as co-creator, fellow co-creator Dan Harmon will now be the lone showrunner. The show is locked in through season 10.

Roiland still has several projects ongoing with Hulu, including as the co-creator of the streamer’s Solar Opposites, on which he voices a main character (the show was renewed for a fifth season in October). On the platform’s Koala Man, which premiered Jan. 9, Roiland does voice work and also is an executive producer. Roiland also still has an overall deal with 20th Television Animation, which produces Solar Opposites and Koala Man. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Hulu and 20th Television Animation for comment.

On Jan. 12, NBC News was the first to break the news that Roiland was charged with one count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud or deceit in Orange County based on an alleged 2020 incident that year with an unnamed Jane Doe that Roiland was dating. Roiland has pled not guilty, and in 2020 was released on a $50,000 bond. Several pre-trial hearings have already occurred, and Roiland is due to return to court on April 27.

In a statement earlier this month, Roiland’s attorney T. Edward Welbourn said the media coverage of the case has been “inaccurate.” Welbourn added, “To be clear, not only is Justin innocent but we also have every expectation that this matter is on course to be dismissed once the district attorney’s office has completed its methodical review of the evidence.”

Lesley Goldberg contributed reporting.