Roiland’s former fans and dates described disturbing interactions with the animator, with many playing out over texts. One woman said the ‘Rick and Morty’ creator sexually assaulted her, another said she was left ‘traumatized.’ (Warning: This article contains explicit language.)

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/7805714

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

  • Franzia@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    1·
    1 year ago

    You’re right, of course and this ia fucked. However, contrarian here, 16 is legal in Europe, and there are hundreds of songs that go more or less like “She was only Seventeen”

    • squirrel@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPMEnglish
      6·
      1 year ago

      Sure, but what the article describes is something other than a romantic relationship: Roiland flirted with lots of people some 20 years younger than himself and told all of them how much he loved them and so on and so forth. That’s far from “rockstar has a consensual one-night stand with a fan”. It’s a pattern: A rich and famous guy manipulating people to get what he wants.