The voice actor and animator was charged with two felonies stemming from a 2020 incident involving Jane Doe’s victim
Justin Roiland, the co-creator and main voice actor of the hit animated series Rick and Morty, is facing charges of domestic violence over a 2020 incident.
NBC News reports that following the incident involving a Jane Doe victim he was dating, Roiland was arrested and charged with one felony count of assault and one felony count of false imprisonment through threat, violence, fraud and/or deception was then.
Roiland has pleaded not guilty to both charges, and the criminal complaint, arrest affidavit and subsequent hearings remain classified. NBC News reported on Roiland’s criminal case after he appeared at a pretrial hearing in Orange County, California on Thursday. A trial date has not yet been set, but Roiland has been ordered to attend another court hearing on April 27.
The incident reportedly happened in January 2020 and Roiland was charged in May 2020. He was arrested and released on $50,000 bail in August of the same year and formally charged in October 2020. A protective order was filed against Roiland that same month. Roiland prohibited him from contacting Jane Doe’s victim or coming within 100 feet of him; This protection order will remain in effect until October 2023.
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According to NBC News, Roiland’s attorneys told the court he was offered a plea bargain. News of the charges against Roiland comes just days after a new animated series, Koala Man, which he is executive producing, debuted on Hulu.
Roiland and Dan Harmon co-created Rick and Morty in 2013, and in the decade that followed, the series reportedly grew into a billion-dollar franchise. In 2018, after allegations of inappropriate behavior were leveled against Harmon during his time at Community, he admitted to sexually harassing a former writer on the show, Megan Ganz. The situation led to him eventually being fired from the cult NBC sitcom.