Justin Roiland Was Reportedly Not Very Involved With Rick & Morty

As the fallout of domestic violence allegations against Justin Roiland continues, The Hollywood Reporter has published an article citing multiple sources suggesting that "other than voice work, [Roiland] has not had any meaningful creative presence on any of the series that bear his name."

The article goes on to say that many of Roiland's former colleagues say they "haven't heard from him in years, and when they have, it's been unpleasant." Since Roiland was charged on January 12 with felony domestic violence in Orange County, California--which includes one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud, and/or deceit--Adult Swim, Squanch Games, and Hulu have all cut ties with him. Roiland pled not guilty and the court will reconvene on April 27.

But in the meantime, The Hollywood Article presents a more in-depth look at the working environment that had developed around Roiland's shows--and perhaps why he was ultimately not so involved day-to-day with other co-workers. For example, a few sources speak to the fundamentally different interests and approaches to storytelling at Rick and Morty between co-creators Dan Harmon and Roiland. One unnamed source says "Dan is all on the page and mathematical about story breaking, and these guys that Justin hired were like, 'Look, I drew a turd with eyes, let's do a story about that.'"

Another unnamed source describes Roiland as withdrawing from the series as early as Season 2, when he would sit so far away from the other writers that he used a pair of binoculars to read the white board used for brainstorming and breaking stories. By Season 3--when the show hired its first batch of female writers--Roiland was "surly, petulant, uncommunicative and grouchy, like he always wished he was doing something else." Finally, a growing though silent consensus was reached where many observed work on the show was easier to get done when Roiland wasn't around.

The article further details the show's--and similar situations on Hulu's Solar Opposites and Koala Man--interpersonal deterioration. Reportedly, his character in Koala Man was killed off because of Roiland's disregard for deadlines.

The article appears in the February 8 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine, and can be read online here.

Currently, Rick and Morty is set to run at Adult Swim without Roiland through to Season 10. Season 6 aired on the Adult Swim network this past fall, and Season 7 is currently in production.