Credit: Adult SwimThe co-creators of Rick and Morty had not been on speaking terms in years before scandal engulfed the show, Dan Harmon says.
Rick and Morty first began airing on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming in 2013, when no one could have predicted that a show about an alcoholic, dimension-hopping mad scientist (voiced by co-creator Justin Roiland) and his nebbishy grandson (also Roiland) would become a global cross-media phenomenon.
The bizarre, often scatological adventures of Rick Sanchez and Morty Smith (which also include the voice talents of Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer, and Sarah Chalke)have gone on for nearly a decade, currently entering season 7. Prior to its release date, Cartoon Network cut Roiland and Harmon an astonishingly huge deal for 70 more episodes, essentially renewing Rick and Morty for three seasons in one swoop.
However, the triumph of Rick and Morty as one of the most popular shows in the world (at least in the genre of foul-mouthed Back to the Future knock-offs) was marred by charges of domestic battery and false imprisonment against Justin Roiland, which were later dropped.
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Despite that, the network swiftly cut ties with Justin Roiland and announced that the characters he voiced would now be portrayed by soundalikes.
Since then, multiple allegations that Justin Roiland used his position to proposition underage fans have surfaced, as well as accusations of sexual assault. At the same time, it has increasingly come to light that Roiland’s creative input into the show he co-created has steadily diminished over the years to the point where he allegedly only showed up to work for voicework and no longer contributed writing or directed episodes of Rick and Morty.
Throughout the controversy, Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon has largely been silent. Recently, however, the Community creator finally spoke up about Justin Roiland’s issues, season 7 of the show, and revealed that he and his former colleague had not spoken in years before the scandal.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Dan Harmon claimed that Justin Roiland had begun creatively withdrawing after season 3, saying, “Honestly, I wasn’t sure what he was saying, other than, maybe, ‘I feel like I’m in your shadow and I wish I wasn’t.’ ”
After that, many credited Dan Harmon with shouldering the direction of the show, with former Adult Swim producer saying, “Dan would be in the writers room and Justin would be running radio control cars around the studio…It’s so dependent on writing and character, and those are Dan’s strengths. I remember I’d get frustrated waiting on his scripts, but then they’d arrive and they would be masterpieces.”
Related: ‘Rick and Morty’ Co-Creator Accused of Using Show To Engage With Underage Girls
Most tellingly of all, Dan Harmon claimed that he and Roiland last communicated in a text message exchange in 2019, saying ” He said things that he’d never said before about being unhappy, and I remember saying to him the last time we spoke in person, like, ‘I am worried about you, and I don’t know what to do about that except to give you all the string and also just say I’m scared that you’re not going to come back.’ But then this conversation became unprecedentedly confrontational.”
He continued, “I think that’s as far as I get to take the story. At that point, we’re no longer both there for it, and it starts to become not only unfair for me to continue but totally uncomfortable because, from there, a friendship goes away, and I still don’t fully understand why.”
What do you think happened behind the scenes of Rick and Morty? Will the show be the same without Justin Roiland? Let us know in the comments below!