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Justin Roiland, the co-creator and voice behind Rick and Morty, is facing several years in prison after being charged with multiple domestic violence offenses.
The alleged incident happened two years ago but details about the charges the 42-year-old is facing were only released on Thursday.
Roiland is charged with domestic battery with corporal injury and false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit. As a result, he is facing up to seven years in prison.
Roiland pleaded not guilty in 2020, and his attorney has told Newsweek they expect the charges to be dismissed.
"It is hard to overstate how inaccurate the recent media coverage of this situation has been," T. Edward Welbourn, Roiland's attorney, told Newsweek. "To be clear, not only is Justin innocent but we also have every expectation that this matter is on course to be dismissed once the District Attorney's office has completed its methodical review of the evidence."
He continued, "We look forward to clearing Justin's name and helping him move forward as swiftly as possible."
Roiland's accuser is an anonymous "Jane Doe" who police say "was in a dating relationship" with him at the time.
Warner Bros Discovery, which owns Adult Swim, has yet to comment on the charges. Newsweek has reached out for a statement or comment.
In 2018, Adult Swim signed a deal for the creators of Rick and Morty to create 70 new episodes, of which they're now partway through after Season 6 recently wrapped.
Roiland's legal troubles now put the fulfillment of that deal in doubt as the show realistically wouldn't be able to continue without him.
Roiland co-created Rick and Morty with Community creator Dan Harmon, and he provides the voice for many characters including the titular two, Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith.
The incident in question dates back to January 2020, with a criminal complaint filed in May 2020 against Roiland. According to Orange County Superior Court records, Roiland pleaded not guilty to both charges in October 2020.
Since then, no formal trial has taken place, but there have been a number of pre-trial hearings since 2020.
NBC News reports that Roiland was charged in May 2020, then arrested and released on a $50,000 bond in August 2020 and arraigned in October 2020.
A protective order was also filed that month which states Roiland is not to harass, threaten or surveil the person named in the protective order.
Roiland created the premise of Rick and Morty in a cartoon short years before the actual show made it to air.
Since then he's remained integral to the show's success, being credited as the co-creator, a writer, a director, executive producer, and the voice of the main two (and several more) characters.
Roiland has voiced a number of characters across TV, and also created animated comedy Solar Opposites, and a number of video games through his studio, including the recent release High on Life.
He spoke to Newsweek twice in 2022 to discuss Season 6 of Rick and Morty, which ended on December 12. During those conversations, he described how fans have reacted to him when they've seen him in public.
"If someone recognizes me, I've had nothing but pleasant experiences with the fans. It's been really amazing," he told Newsweek, before moving onto the downsides of fame.
"There's something weird ... It's just inherently weird to me being recognized as a fan comes up to me, because it's so alien to me as a human being. We hit with Rick and Morty when I was 32, and so for me, it was just like, I live my whole life a certain way, and had expectations of normality, and then, now it's a little, it's not that much different, but it is a little different."
In terms of the future of Rick and Morty, the producers are often working ahead of schedule, with producer Scot Marder telling Newsweek that Season 7 is well into production and due out this year.
"I am on [Season 8]," Marder told Newsweek. "I am on 8, and 9 we'll be starting top of next year. So we're getting ahead and it's awesome, really exciting. We're overlapping like two or three seasons in the records so from our perspective, it's a real kaleidoscope."
"You'll get one every year," Marder continued. "You'll get a Rick and Morty every year for as long as I'm around."
This guarantee was given before the news broke about the charges facing Roiland, and it would very likely have serious consequences for Rick and Morty's continued output.
The maximum sentence for the charge of domestic battery with corporal injury is four years in California, while the maximum sentence for false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit is three years, meaning Roiland is facing a maximum of seven years in prison.
Update 01/13/23, 10 a.m. ET: This article was updated with quotes from Roiland's legal representatives.
About the writer
Jamie Burton is a Newsweek Senior TV and Film Reporter (Interviews) based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on ... Read more