‘Rick and Morty’ Will Continue Without Co-Creator & Star Justin Roiland

Adult Swim has terminated their relationship with Justin Roiland, co-creator, executive producer and star of hit series Rick and Morty.

Adult Swim has ended their partnership with Rick and Morty co-creator, executive producer and voice actor, Justin Roiland. The news was announced on Tuesday (January 24), less than a week after Roiland appeared at a pre-trial hearing to face domestic violence charges.

On January 12, NBC News reported that the the Stockton, California native was charged in May 2020 for an alleged domestic dispute that occurred in January of that year, involving an anonymous woman that Roiland was dating at the time. He later plead not guilty to “one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit,” per Variety. Roiland was later released on a  $50,000 bond on August 13, 2020 before being arraigned on October 14, 2020, with a protective order filed against him that prohibited him from harassing, threatening, surveilling or going within 100 feet of an unnamed person.

“It is hard to overstate how inaccurate the recent media coverage of this situation has been, Roiland’s lawyer, T. Edward Welbourn, said in a previous statement. To be clear, not only is Justin innocent but we also have every expectation that this matter is on course to be dismissed once the District Attorney’s office has completed its methodical review of the evidence. We look forward to clearing Justin’s name and helping him move forward as swiftly as possible.”

While plans for recasting Rick and Morty are unknown, the show was given a renewal of 70 episodes in 2018, which fewer than half of those have aired. Rick and Morty has aired on Adult Swim since December 2013.