Elon Musk says 'Ricky and Morty' co-creator charged with domestic abuse is the 'heart of the show'
Adult Swim
- Elon Musk said that "Rick and Morty" co-creator Justin Roiland is the "heart of the show."
- Adult Swim, the show's network, announced it had cut ties with Roiland on Tuesday.
- Roiland is facing domestic violence charges stemming from a 2020 incident.
Elon Musk offered up some praise for Justin Roiland, the co-creator of "Rick and Morty" who's facing domestic abuse charges, after the show's network Adult Swim cut ties with Roiland.
After Adult Swim made the announcement on Tuesday, adding that "Rick and Morty" would continue, YouTuber Tim Pool tweeted: "how lol justin is rick *and* morty."
Musk responded to Pool's tweet, saying: "He is also the heart of the show."
—Mr. Tweet (@elonmusk) January 25, 2023
Roiland, along with co-creating the series, voiced both of the titular characters in the sci-fi adult animated series about a scientist, Rick, and his grandson, Morty, and their adventures across other dimensions and planets.
The Hollywood Reporter reported on Tuesday that the roles would be recast. An Adult Swim representative reiterated for THR, and Insider, that it has "ended its association with Justin Roiland."
Hulu, which streams Roiland's "Solar Opposites" animated series, told Deadline in a statement on Wednesday that it had also cut ties with him. Squanch Games, the game studio Roiland founded, also announced on Wednesday that he had resigned from the company.
Roiland was charged in 2020 with domestic violence in California, to which he pleaded not guilty to at the time. NBC News first reported the charges earlier this month, which it said included one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit.
He appeared in court last week for a pre-trial hearing, according to NBC News.
"We look forward to clearing Justin's name and helping him move forward as swiftly as possible," an attorney for Roiland told NBC News.
Musk is a longtime fan of "Rick and Morty." He made a cameo in the 2019 episode "One Crew Over the Crewcoo's Morty," in which he voiced an alternate-dimension version of himself, Elon Tusk.
Adult Swim ordered 70 more episodes of "Rick and Morty" in 2018, and about half of those have aired.