After losing his gigs aboard Adult Swim blockbuster Rick and Morty — which he co-created, and on which he voiced both title characters — as well as Hulu’s Solar Opposites, among other projects, Justin Roiland has seen the domestic violence charges against him dismissed.
Variety and other outlets reported the news, quoting Kimberly Edds, spokeswoman for the Orange County District Attorney’s office, as saying “We dismissed the charges today as a result of having insufficient evidence to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.” In 2020, Roiland entered not guilty pleas regarding “one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit,” according to the trade. Variety notes this dismissal comes ahead of a pre-trial hearing planned for late April; that would’ve been the case’s second pre-trial hearing, after the one this January that brought it to the public’s attention.
Roiland shared this statement on Twitter after the charges were dismissed.
justice pic.twitter.com/1q9M4GA6MV
— Justin Roiland (@JustinRoiland) March 22, 2023
Those who have been following the case will recall that following the allegations becoming public in January — and Roiland’s high-profile parting from Adult Swim, Hulu, and comedic shooter High On Life creator Squanch Games — additional reports surfaced about Roiland’s behaviour beyond just this case involving a former partner, including the Hollywood Reporter’s investigation into complains from colleagues about his counterproductive work ethic.
In January, Adult Swim said it would be re-casting the voices of Rick and Morty and moving forward with its Emmy-winning show, and there’s no reason to assume that’s not still the case. A seventh season of Rick and Morty is on the way.
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