Rick and Morty: Justin Roiland Faced Sexual Harassment Claim at Work, Says New Report
Rick and Morty series co-creator Justin Roiland has been officially cut from the Adult Swim production moving forward, and a new report has outlined that the creator faced a sexual harassment claim while working on the series. It was reported earlier this Spring that Roiland was charged with felony domestic violence charges back in 2020, and Adult Swim subsequently fired Roiland from the production as a result. In the weeks that followed from the co-creator's departure from the series, a new report alleges that Roiland was a negative presence behind the scenes for the other members of the production staff.
The Hollywood Reporter has dropped a new report detailing how it was from members of the Rick and Morty team working together with the former series co-creator, and it notes that the charges might have been a shock to many but seemed to point to a much larger issue that those on staff had been aware of noting, "Roiland once paraded a high-profile [adult film] star through the Rick and Morty writers room, openly discussed threesomes and was involved in at least one instance of alleged sexual harassment during the show's third season, notably its first with female writers."
What Was Going On With Justin Roiland?
As the report notes, with Rick and Morty bringing on the first female writers with the third season of the series, Roiland did not make any efforts to change his crude jokes and behavior from the first two seasons such as "doodling penis monsters and other vulgar characters on the office whiteboards." Along with discussing outside work elements such as sexual proclivities, "Roiland sent a female employee a 'really creepy' text, late at night, requesting that she come to his home." And it changed the environment as the staffer allegedly didn't want to take complains on Roiland further.
These were only some of the reports that came up amidst a further description of Roiland pulling away from the production more and more over the years. Thankfully Adult Swim is moving forward without him and mentioned thus in their official statement on the situation, "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."
Rick and Morty Season 7 is now in production, but the release date for its new episodes have yet to be confirmed by Adult Swim as of this writing. You can now find the first five seasons now streaming with HBO Max.