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
Even cartoons are not safe from enshitification. Creatures bait-and-switch us from free-thinking counter-cultural rebels to sex offenders who are every bit as corrupt as the old status quo we thought they were an antidote to.
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What a truly stupid article.
Darn right! I sure didn’t need an article to tell me Justin Rolland was a child groomer, I could’ve guessed that.
UNACCEPTABLE!
I’m gonna get downvoted for this, but it’s always funny to me how modern society “forgets” that men are literally biologically programmed to be attracted to girls are soon as they start looking “old enough”.
And guess what, that doesn’t magically happen when they turn 18, it often happens at a younger age.
And no, that doesn’t mean men should flirt with and date young girls. I’m just trying to say it’s biology. It’s science. Facts even.
I think there’s too much sexual supression, especially through religion. The 2nd largest serial killer in the world was a paedo because he knew he liked boys at a young age but due to Christianity having a big emphasis on don’t be gay, he suppressed those urges and they came back out later in life, except he was still attracted to the boys at the age he realized he was gay.
Girls can look “cute” but if you’re well integrated into society in the first place, you can find them attractive, but not sexually attractive if that makes sense.
I think there is too much sexual suppression in the US. Here in Denmark the age of consent is 15, and I honestly think it is a much safer place for my daughter than the US.
Same here in Slovenia. I have two early teenage daughters and will have no problem with them being responsibly sexual with partners of same age or a couple years older when they are 15 if they want to. We will talk about everything of course. In america there seems to be some cognitive dissonance - everything is sexualized but also forbidden.
You’re getting downvoted because it’s irrelevant and honestly quite creepy to bring up. There’s plenty of shit people did in the distant and not so distant past that isn’t ok today because we now know better.
Rockstars would literally brag about shagging a high schooler. Different times and vibes. We know better now that it’s predatory and we should move forward advancing society with that knowledge.
In addition he’s getting downvoted because this is fucking sexist bullshit. In non-sexually repressive environments most kids get sexually attracted to other kids irrespective of their gender fairly early. Arguably girls might get there a couple of years earlier, arguably. And so throughout the gender spectrum people don’t fuck despite their attraction because they have heads on their shoulders as you rightfully point out.
You do realize people have the ability to not act upon every urge right
So who cares? You’ve got a brain for a reason
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Yo, so why am I attracted to 30’s-ish taller women with bush and armpit hair that also look like they could crush my bones?
Don’t start pulling biologically programmed out your ass when describing your own tastes.
This guy right here, officer.
Danny Masterton 2.0.
I don’t think so. Masterson seems like straight up rape. Roiland seems like a creep. Maybe a groomer, but I don’t know if it’s worth watering down the really horrendous groomers.
He’s a creep who regularly took advantage of his fame to manipulate young women into sex. And it looks like in at least one the manipulation went both ways.
He deserves to be fired. He deserves to be known as a creep.
Also, John Kricfalusi 2.0.
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Being a primarily comedy show, this is very understandable and common. People like different things and different things make us laugh, it’s not like we can control it. It doesn’t say anything about you. I like Rick and Morty, and I even like Friends. I don’t like the office, Seinfeld or Arrested development. So what
Gotta be careful letting your nuance show on the internet. Most people don’t care for it.
Show is great and unique on top of being commercially successful. You are yelling at clouds.
It is, but Roiland has very little to do with it aside from voices.
I agree. Tried getting into it but I just can’t stand Rick.
That’s kind of the point. Rick is like Walter White in Breaking Bad.
Be careful, we may not be on reddit but there’s a lot of R&M fans from reddit on here
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I believe they already replaced his voice actor for Solar Opposites and we don’t yet know how they are going to go with R&M. There were some pretty good impersonators so they could easily keep the voice the same or they could change it completely.
Yeah. It’s kind of gross, but whole genres of porn are barely legal 18-20 year olds. Sounds like that’s what he’s into. And he went about it in a very creepy way unlike Leonardo DiCaprio that uses the prestige of the model and hollywood industry.
What mentality do you think someone who only chases 18 year old girls has? If the age of consent was lower, they’d go lower.
But it’s not lower and he didn’t go lower. I think he’s a creep. Just not sure he’s technically a pedophile or doing anything super illegal based on the article. And being into 18 year olds isn’t that out there. Just look at porn, strip clubs, the model industry, film industry etc… Also, not sure if he only chases 18 year olds. That was just the topic of the article about the 18/early 20s.
Sounds like he is into 16 years olds to me.
Yeah, but it sounds like he waited until they are 18.
Oh, so it’s OK then 👎
Legally, yes.
That doesn’t make it much better…
Legal is significantly better than illegal
Did you read what I wrote below?
No I read what you wrote above.
Having read the below now, I do agree with this
Well obviously it’s better legally. It’s pretty terrible from a moral standpoint though.
Well it makes it legal. So that’s empirically better.
Well obviously it’s better legally. It’s pretty terrible from a moral standpoint though.
Fucking an adult, and a teenager are not the same thing.
Yeah. Fucking a 18 year old that is pretending to be 15 is creepy, not criminal.
If they are 18 or 19 it is the same thing.
What a cringe lord.
Fucking disgusting, I will never understand people like this.
That’s a man in a position of power
There are plenty of men in positions of power that don’t abuse minors.
AMIPOPAB
?
All Men In Positions Of Power Are Bastards
Lol
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So the only thing stopping you from doing stuff like this is power?
From the article, really buried: “Roiland usually asked people how old they were, if they were single, and if they were “into girls.” In three cases, when the person said they were under 18, Roiland would message them again months or years later. Those three conversations started with people who said they were 16 at the time, and continued for years, until they were 18 and older.”
After reading the whole article it doesn’t seem like he did anything sexual with anyone under 18. My takeaway is that he’s a creep, abuses his fame and power (part of a big club there), he’s manipulative, and he plies underage people with alcohol to get them to sleep with him, but it appears he’s not a pedo. Or at least smart enough not to get caught.
And continued for years is the key.
He made sexually explicit comments to minors for years. And solicited pictures? That’s solicitation of child pornography
The guys a pedo. Rather or not he gets charged with something related to under age girls, we’ll see.
No he’s a pedo that just barely skirts the law so he doesn’t get gang raped in prison.
This is textbook grooming
“Hey how old are you?”
- “16”
(ends conversation)
That’s not grooming.
Except he didn’t end the conversation. Read the article, fuckwit
You kiss your daddy with that mouth?
Only below the waist
Those three conversations started with people who said they were 16 at the time, and continued for years, until they were 18 and older.
This is a quote from the comment you’re responding to… It IS textbook grooming. He didn’t stop talking to them when he found out they were underage.
You say he abuses his fame and power. I don’t really see and power accept money and fame. If people are attracted to fame and power, then why should he not be allowed to use his? Why is that different than a woman who shows off her breasts to get a date?
I don’t really get the people that bitching about using their fame to get laid either. Are we only allowed to date within our own social class? If they’re being coercive, yea, that’s a problem but it’s possible to have a relationship without coercion.
I’m not defending this dude but the problem with him was that he was pursuing minors not that he was famous and successful.
You don’t see why unbalanced power dynamics lead to abusive situations?
So you are saying that all golddiggers are automatically victims now because there is an ‘unbalanced power dynamic’?
Yes, that’s what OP is saying.
So now I have to feel sorry for girls who choose to only date old millionaires? Crazy…
Welcome to 2023. Accountability went out in the 90s.
According to the screenshots shared by Twitter user @/MartyAmericaUSA, Roiland asked the minor to run away from school and go into “sx slavery.” He also allegedly addressed her as a “ft btch,” called her “jailbait,” and said she would go into “cam w*ing” once she turns 18.
A Facebook user called Janna Waters also claimed that Roiland texted on Twitter when she was 16 and called her “insanely hot.” The user also alleged that the Rick and Morty co-creator allegedly had a “predatory scout” named Christy who used to find “young girls who looked a certain way” for the creator.
No, dude’s a pedo. “Starting the conversation” with someone who’s underage then waiting til 5 minutes after their 18th birthday to make a move doesn’t make you not a pedo, it makes you a pedo who doesn’t want to go to prison. Even then, there are at least two documented cases where he didn’t wait. Because he’s a pedo.
Not a pedo, just a regular rapist. Talk about low bars.
Don’t mistake my comment as a defense of him as a person. He’s been accused of domestic violence, forced oral sex, and taking advantage of intoxicated women under the drinking age. Despite him getting off on the DV charge, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. He’s obviously a pretty terrible human being.
I just don’t like people throwing around ‘pedo’ unjustly, because it waters it down and takes away the impact when used against even worse monsters.
Even the “forced” oral sex seems really suspect.
But he should have been able to read the situation as well as anyone. If she seems to be setting a trap, maybe don’t fall for it?
Either way, the dude seems to be tiptoeing around the borders laws that nobody should be near. Dude’s sitting and watching the clock for when his prey turns 18. Even if he might comply with the letter of the law, he’s clearly violating the spirit.
16 is not prepubescent which is what pedo is there is another term for teens but i forgot.
Ephebophilia I believe. He’s also a groomer, how fun…
Libertarian?
The only people who care about this distinction are pedophiles / whatever that term is.
No, by grouping children in with postpubertal humans who engage in age appropriate sexual acts you downplay pedophilia. You’re an idiot and you insist on being one.
Lmao a 16 year old being hit on by a 30 year old is not age appropriate sexual acts, it’s about mental maturity
You’re saying fucking a two year old is the same as fucking a 16 year old you sicko. I never mentioned 30 years anyway, you’re also putting words into my mouth.
The term is “ephebophilia”
Now you’ve read my comment
Now you know what that term is
Now you’re a pedophile
It’s that easy! See you in Thailand!
I said people who care about the distinction, not people who know the term
lol whatever pedo
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I just assume anyone remotely famous is some kind of foul person behind the scenes.
High positions of power/money/fame tend to attract those types unfortunately.
And gradually create them too.
No, Paul Rudd, nooo! You’re too pure!
😭
Oof.
Bodied lmao
I’ve seen your secret plans for a space station capable of destroying entire planets, Margot Robbie! It’s bad engineering and is going to get a ton of your workers and soldiers killed!
That’s Academy Award nominated character actress/part time Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Margot to you!
Yes, the use of the Mass Shadow Generator on Malachor V was necessary to end the Mandalorian War once and for all, and no, I refuse to elaborate further.
Didn’t this story already come out like a year ago? Adult swim fired him
that story was to do with him being charged with assault and unlawful imprisonment
JFC, you know it’s bad when you use GPT to summarize the article and it thinks you are violating policy.
Grooming is more than just convincing a minor to not tell their parents.
The actual definition is grooming a minor for a later sexual relationship (not fully restricted to them still being a minor)
As with any scummy/horrible behavior, there are levels of scum/horribleness.
