'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAAAQABAAD/2wCEAAMDAwMDAwQEBAQFBQUFBQcHBgYHBwsICQgJCAsRCwwLCwwLEQ8SDw4PEg8bFRMTFRsfGhkaHyYiIiYwLTA+PlQBAwMDAwMDBAQEBAUFBQUFBwcGBgcHCwgJCAkICxELDAsLDAsRDxIPDg8SDxsVExMVGx8aGRofJiIiJjAtMD4+VP/AABEIAAUACgMBIgACEQEDEQH/xABiAAEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAwUQAAEDAwMFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIBAwQABQcGISIIERMVMgEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABREAAQUAAwAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQACAwQSESHB/9oADAMBAAIRAxEAPwDcyPl2djnUlptUO3BJOey/NB91808LtwImz4D9InbaqWfqEyFFtEBgPXkDUVkBIweIlQQROSo6m9KUuyrBjWBySjrNiZkgaH9Z9X//2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
American animator Justin Roiland was recently charged with domestic violence in connection with an alleged 2020 incident involving an unnamed woman.
Following the allegations, Adult Swim officially cut ties with the Rick and Morty co-creator and announced that the channel will continue with the seventh season of the show without Roiland.
Marie Moore, VP of communications, Adult Swim, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang also issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter and confirmed:
“Adult Swim has ended its association with Justin Roiland.”
Sources allegedly told the publication that Roiland’s voice roles would be recast for the show.
Reports also claimed that the animator will always be credited as the co-creator of the sitcom, but his fellow co-creator Dan Harmon will continue as the sole showrunner.
In the wake of Adult Swim's announcement, a highly controversial old video of Dan Harmon assaulting a baby doll resurfaced on social media and prompted netizens to call for the cancelation of Rick and Morty.
Meanwhile, some users also called out Justin Roiland’s close friend and Rick and Morty voice artist Alex Hirsch, for maintaining silence surrounding the issue. Other users also accused Hirsch of being allegedly involved in Roiland’s past controversial actions.
A look into Alex Hirsch and Dan Harmon’s alleged controversies amid Justin Roiland scandal
On January 12, Justin 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 relation to a 2020 incident with an unknown woman he was allegedly dating.
The animator was initially released on a $50,000 bond and pled not guilty to the charges. In the wake of the accusations, musician Allie Goertz took to Twitter to reveal a series of inappropriate messages she received from Roiland.
Shortly after, Roiland was also accused of sending alleged improper messages to minors in the past. Several Twitter users also shared screenshots of Roiland’s alleged inappropriate messages to underage girls.
Meanwhile, user @/historilocked claimed that animator Alex Hirsch was also allegedly involved with Roiland’s allegations. Another user, @/ShadySolana, added that Justin Roiland allegedly chatted with underage girls and boys and invited them to “private parties.”
The user alleged that one time Roiland even attempted to “hook up” a 17-year-old with Alex Hirsch. As per the screenshot, the original accuser alleged that Roiland invited her to a “singles party” and wanted to set her up with Hirsch when she was “barely about to turn 18.”
She added that Roiland even asked her to not take Hirsch’s name in public after she made a vague post about the situation. The animator told her that Hirsch was allegedly not aware that he was playing “match maker” and asked her to take down her post.
The accuser said she removed her post thinking she might hurt Hirsch’s reputation while he was gaining fame for Gravity Falls. The girl added that the alleged incident was “beyond weird” and took place before Rick and Morty garnered popularity.
While it remains unknown if Alex Hirsch was aware of the situation, the animator is being called out for maintaining his silence about Roiland’s controversy despite being a POC and LGBT “ally.”
Twitter user @/I_AM_anthony999 also claimed that Alex Hirsch is Justin Roiland’s closest friend. They further alleged that Roiland visited Jeffrey Epstein’s island alongside Mark Epstein and theorized that Hirsch’s show, Gravity Falls, listed “Mark Epstein” as one of the people who Wendy broke up with.
As the latest allegations came to light, Adult Swim fired Roiland and said that Rick and Morty will continue with the animator’s co-creator Dan Harmon. However, calls for the cancelation of the show grew louder on social media after an old inappropriate video of Harmon made the rounds online.
The video, which initially sparked major outrage nearly a decade ago, was created by Harmon as a parody of Dexter. The improper skit, titled Daryl, aired at the 20099 monthly Channel 101 short film festival.
In the clip, Harmon is seen playing a therapist treating a new father. After prescribing his client's sleeping pills, Harmon’s character can be seen climbing through the window and assaulting his client’s baby, represented by a plastic doll.
The episode also shows Harmon’s character convincing another father that assaulting their baby will cure the child from becoming a murderer. The clip comes to an end with the character pledging that they will find more babies to assault.
The skit reportedly began with Harmon describing it as “a little groundbreaking for normal people to handle – but maybe you’ll surprise me.”
Harmon’s video first went viral in 2018 and prompted Harmon to delete his Twitter account amid a major backlash. He also took down the skit from the official website and apologized for his actions. He said at the time:
“In 2009, I made a ‘pilot’ which strove to parody the series ‘Dexter’ and only succeeded in offending. I quickly realized the content was way too distasteful and took the video down immediately. Nobody should ever have to see what you saw and for that, I sincerely apologize.”
The video resurfaced on social media amid Justin Roiland’s ongoing controversy as several people noted that Harmon has continued to work with the animator. However, Adult Swim claimed that Harmon “recognized his mistake at the time” and “apologized.”
The channel said that “offensive” video “does not reflect the type of content” Adam Swim is seeking out.
Amid the ongoing controversies, Justin Roiland denied the domestic violence allegations, and his attorney, T. Edward Welbourn, said the animator was “innocent” and looking forward to the matter being “dismissed” following the “methodical review of the evidence” by the district attorney’s office.
