Justin Roiland, Rick and Morty co-creator and voice actor, was acquitted of domestic abuse.
Charges against an ex-girlfriend were dismissed “due to a lack of sufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt,” according to a spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney.
Roiland tweeted “justice” and stated, “I’m still profoundly shaken by the horrible lies reported about me.”
He stated that he wished to “move forward.”
He added, “I’m so dismayed that so many people were so quick to judge without knowing the facts, based solely on the word of an angry ex attempting to circumvent due process and have me “canceled.”
It is disgraceful that it may have succeeded, even partially.
Roiland, 43, co-created Rick and Morty in 2013 with Dan Harmon and voiced the title characters for the anarchic Emmy-winning animated sitcom about a scientist and his grandson.
Adult Swim, a division of Cartoon Network, announced in January that it had “ended our association” with Roiland. Also that the seventh season of Rick and Morty would continue without him. Reports said his roles would be recast.
Hulu fired Roiland, who animated Solar Opposites and Koala Man, days later.
Roiland’s 2016 gaming company, Squanch Games, also announced in January that it had “received Justin Roiland’s resignation.”
In May 2020, California prosecutors charged Roiland with two counts of domestic battery with corporal injury and false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud, and/or deceit against an unnamed woman who resided with him at the time.
According to a police report, the woman suffered “a traumatic condition” from the January incident.
“We look forward to clearing Justin’s name and helping him move forward swiftly,” his attorney said in January.
