Justin Roiland had it all and has been left with nothing. And he has earned it. The fans, convinced that only he was carrying all of ‘Rick and Morty’ as well as ‘Solar opposites’, ‘Koala man’ and everything in which he participated, raised their hands to their heads when they learned that after the accusations of mistreatment domestic would no longer be in any of the following seasons of his series. But the reality was very different: according to his peers (or subordinates), Roiland had been troublesome for years.
Problematic Rick!
You may not be affected by sexual direct messages with minors in which he even said “You should run away from home and become a sex slave, stupid fucking bitch (!!!) (Joke)”. You may not believe that in 2020 he roughed up his girlfriend of the moment. You may believe that the direct message he sent to Allie Goertz, former MAD writer who was preparing a concept record about ‘Rick and Morty’, he’s secretly great (“You could write a song about nine dicks of different sizes and ethnicities around your face, and in the lyrics describe how they fill your face with cum”). But then, it’s time to listen to his coworkers counting why Justin Roiland isn’t the weirdo genius we’ve been sold.
Interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter and, for obvious reasons, remaining anonymous, some ‘Rick and Morty’ writers have told disturbing anecdoteslike the time he walked a porn star (Riley Reid) and Kanye West around the room where the episodes were being written, he went into too much detail about the threesomes he wanted to have with his fiancée (although he says it was relevant because of the plot of the episode they were talking about) or was accused of sexual harassment during the third season, when he sent a night message out of the blue to a colleague demanding that she come to his house. In 2020, Cartoon Network investigated him, although it is not known what happened or the decisions that were made. Surely more than one regrets having given the series so many blind seasons.
It is true that for some time now he has not been seen in any of the series he supposedly leads. Not only are there workers who don’t know you (not even in Zoom meetings), but also, no one speaks to Dan Harmon, the co-creator of ‘Rick and Morty’, something that had been rumored for years. A decade ago, Harmon defined Roiland as someone who dominated the “punk style” and with whom he wanted to continue collaborating: Harmon wrote and Roiland drew. But after that moment of idyll, things turned out normal.
Justin, stop
The moment of rupture between the two came when Dan Harmon wanted to put more care in the scripts and took people from ‘Community’ to write. He wanted a more cerebral series, but his partner was just uncontrolled madness. “Dan wants to have it all written down and he’s a mathematician when it comes to breaking up stories, but the guys Justin hired were saying things like ‘Look, I’ve drawn some shit with eyes, let’s make a story about it’“.
Little by little, Roiland, who didn’t like being around people, began to distance himself further and further from the writers’ room. In Season 3, seeing the creator acting weird around female writers, playing with Nerf guns and action figures instead of coming up with ideas, and when he did come up with ideas, they never really caught on, some workers started complaining. feeling that everything would be better if he wasn’t in the room where ‘Rick and Morty’ was created. In fact, simply, one day he stopped showing up for work. And when he did, he would bring his toys (like a remote control car) and consciously avoid the writers room.
Since then, Roiland is dedicated simply to putting the voices of the characters, for which he does not accept anyone’s direction and does not have to leave his house: he records in his studio, sends them and his role in the series ends there. The same thing happens in ‘Solar opposites’ and ‘Koala man’: Roiland was aware that if he raised the voices it was very difficult for them to throw him out one day. And that in the series of the Australian superhero it took much longer than the scheduled delivery date to send his recorded lines, jeopardizing the episode. And, in addition to all this, there is the alcohol.
Rick Roiland
He himself has stated that during conventions, interviews or moments on a press tour he is usually happier than normal: “A couple of shots before, and then drink vodka for the duration”. That, in case it appears: It wouldn’t be the first time he left fans stranded, to the organizers of a convention… or even to the heads of the chains or to the production meetings. Come on, a gem.
Some believe that this is just proof that he is an eccentric genius, but the multiple accusations that have fallen on him over the years leave little doubt. In fact, he himself commented in a 2011 podcast: “I would be attracted to a 14-year-old who looked 18 and had big tits.” Ew. The fact is that, after learning that Roiland would go to trial for the alleged domestic abuse of 2020, he has been left without partners or work of any kind … And His response has been as expected: none.
You can think what you want about Justin Roiland: that he is a misunderstood genius, a victim of the woke culture, an outcast creator of ‘Rick and Morty’. You may even believe that the show won’t be as much fun without him, even though he’s only helped write six episodes… two of which are interdimensional television. One thing is clear: the Adult Swim series may never have the voices we’re used to again, but if your concern is the quality of the scripts, it doesn’t seem like it will make much of a difference. Fortunately or unfortunately.