Justin Roiland used his ‘Rick and Morty’ fame to pursue young fans, text messages show
Justin Roiland used his ‘Rick and Morty’ fame to pursue young fans, text messages show
Roiland’s former fans and dates described disturbing interactions with the animator, with many playing out over texts. One woman said the ‘Rick and Morty’ creator sexually assaulted her, another said she was left ‘traumatized.’ (Warning: This article contains explicit language.)
In the years following the 2013 debut of Adult Swim’s cartoon phenomenon “Rick and Morty,” its star and co-creator Justin Roiland became a titan of the animation and video game industry and a rock star of youth counterculture. His artistic style and caricatures became ubiquitous in cannabis culture, and his career expanded into producing other animated series, creating NFTs and leading a virtual reality gaming studio. In 2017, a “Rick and Morty” collaboration with McDonald’s led to such a viral frenzy that police had to be called to at least two locations.
But as he partied with Los Angeles’ superstars and traveled the country for conventions, he also found he could use his fame to strike up conversations and develop relationships with young fans, including some who were underage. This is according to interviews with 11 women and nonbinary people who shared thousands of messages with Roiland from 2013 to 2022 — with nine of the people saying he turned the exchanges sexual. Of those nine people, three said they were 16 when they started talking to Roiland. To corroborate their stories, the 11 women and nonbinary people also shared pictures, videos, social media posts, emails, and plane ticket and Uber receipts with NBC News.
Warning: Lengthy and graphic details
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This really has me wondering how many people are doing the same thing but haven't been caught.
A person who otherwise wouldn't be noticed suddenly getting attention they never received thrown at them can easily abuse it if they don't control their behavior with a moral compass, which is becoming less and less a priority. When something feels good, many indulge. When you overindulge, you justify. When you get good at justifying, you can make anything okay in your head. If you don't have a line drawn, it's wild how far people will go... he went way too far and he should endure the consequences.
I think getting to be super famous is much easier if you have no moral compass to begin with.
Or a successful politician
I contend it's not that it's less of a priority but rather we're (as a society) getting better at collecting evidence, identifying un aceptable behaviour, and taking people seriously when they present an accusation. I firmly believe humans have done and do worse all the time.
I agree, actually. It's actually unreasonable to think people were any better or worse before, there's always good and bad... The difference is what's accepted by the rest of us. Great response, I appreciate it!
Everyone is doing that. That's the whole point of being famous.
Women DM famous people all the time and randomly fuck them. I personally some that have done it. They are just like meet me at this hotel.
Which there's absolutely nothing wrong with, provided both parties are over 18
No one is upset that he fucked fans, there upset that he at least tried to fuck underaged fans.
Frankly if you don't see a difference, I'm scared for you
Plenty of folks arguing now that literally any imbalance of power is unacceptable -- I've heard people argue that it is also not time-limited. So rich people can't fuck poor people, a professor can't ever fuck a former student even if they meet years later at a conference, and don't even think about workplace romance ever again if you are talking about college educated folks. The insane rules mean that you're only allowed to date someone precisely the same as you in every way. These are the same cis het allies that helped alienate and target the trans community through absolute absurdity.
Oh muricans... Have to be 18 to fuck and have to be 21 to drink. The hell is wrong with you, prudes?
Found Polanski's account.
The comment chain didn't imply any of what you said about my comment. You're putting words in my mouth, I'll leave it at that.
You're only just now wondering this?!