Back in January we reported that Justin Roiland, one of the co-creators and former star of the animated comedy Rick and Morty, was hit with domestic abuse charges last year. The charges purportedly concerned events that took place in 2020, one felony count of domestic battery, and one count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceipt, have now both been dropped by the California Orange County District Attorney’s Office due to insufficient evidence.

Adult Swim, the nighttime adult programming block for Cartoon Network that distributes Rick and Morty, cut ties with Roiland in January when news of the charges first broke. They even recast the title characters for the seventh season of the show.

rick and morty
Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith. Roiland had provided both voices.

Roiland, who also co-created and starred in the animated Hulu comedy “Solar Opposites,” resigned from his video game studio as well. But in a statement on Twitter, he expressed relief that the charges were dropped and claimed that the accusations against him were lies from an ex trying to “cancel” him.

While Roiland may be ready to move forward, it seems that “Rick and Morty” won’t be looking back. Sources say they have no plans to bring him back on board. He also remains removed from his game company Squanch Games, the creators of the hit game High on Life.

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Gene Turnbow

President of Krypton Media Group, Inc., radio personality and station manager of SCIFI.radio. Part writer, part animator, part musician, part illustrator, part programmer, part entrepreneur - all geek.