Almost two months after NBC News revealed two criminal offenses against Justin Roiland in January 2020, the Rick and Morty Creator says case against him was dismissed. He finally responded publicly to the allegations made against him in a statement posted on Twitter.
“I have always known these claims to be false – and I never doubted that day would come,” Roiland wrote. “I am grateful that this case was dismissed, but at the same time I am still deeply shocked by the horrible lies that were told about me during this trial. Most of all, I’m disappointed that so many people were so quick to judge without knowing the facts, based solely on the words of a bitter ex who was trying to evade due process and have me “quit.” That it may have succeeded, even partially, is shameful. However, now that the legal battle is over, I am determined to move on and focus both on my creative projects and on restoring my reputation.”
Court documents obtained by Polygon from the Superior Court of California show a hearing scheduled for Wednesday was canceled. A spokesman for the District Attorney confirmed to Polygon that Roiland’s case was dismissed for “insufficient evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.”
In August 2020, Roiland was arrested, charged with a charge of “domestic assault” and a charge of “false detention by threat, violence, fraud and/or deception,” and was eventually released on $50,000 bail. Roiland pleaded not guilty to both counts during an indictment in October. Details of the case have been sealed for confidentiality reasons; only in 2023 did the circumstances come to light.
While Roiland intends to further his creative work, it’s unclear how updating the case will affect his relationships with major studios. In January, 20th TV Animation and Hulu Originals issued a joint statement, which read, “We have ended our collaboration with Justin Roiland,” who produced Hulu’s Solar Opposites And koala man.
“Adult Swim has ended its collaboration with Justin Roiland,” said a spokesperson for Rick and Morty stated at the time. The Squanch Games team looked forward to his reply: “The passionate team at Squanch will continue to create games that we know our fans will love while continuing to support and improve them high in life‘, which had just emerged from the largest single-player game launch in Game Pass history.
Polygon has reached out to Adult Swim, Hulu, and Squanch for further clarification and comment. We’ll update this story as speakers respond.
