Justin Roiland used his ‘Rick and Morty’ fame to pursue young fans, text messages show
Justin Roiland used his ‘Rick and Morty’ fame to pursue young fans, text messages show
Roiland’s former fans and dates described disturbing interactions with the animator, with many playing out over texts. One woman said the ‘Rick and Morty’ creator sexually assaulted her, another said she was left ‘traumatized.’ (Warning: This article contains explicit language.)
In the years following the 2013 debut of Adult Swim’s cartoon phenomenon “Rick and Morty,” its star and co-creator Justin Roiland became a titan of the animation and video game industry and a rock star of youth counterculture. His artistic style and caricatures became ubiquitous in cannabis culture, and his career expanded into producing other animated series, creating NFTs and leading a virtual reality gaming studio. In 2017, a “Rick and Morty” collaboration with McDonald’s led to such a viral frenzy that police had to be called to at least two locations.
But as he partied with Los Angeles’ superstars and traveled the country for conventions, he also found he could use his fame to strike up conversations and develop relationships with young fans, including some who were underage. This is according to interviews with 11 women and nonbinary people who shared thousands of messages with Roiland from 2013 to 2022 — with nine of the people saying he turned the exchanges sexual. Of those nine people, three said they were 16 when they started talking to Roiland. To corroborate their stories, the 11 women and nonbinary people also shared pictures, videos, social media posts, emails, and plane ticket and Uber receipts with NBC News.
Warning: Lengthy and graphic details
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"Young" could be misinterpreted as 18. "Underage" is the right word.
Yeah, this story needs way more precision than it has.
"Were 16 when they started texting him". Ok, well how old were they written the allegations occurred, and what is he alleged to have done?
The imprecision is by design. Modern journalism is trash.
Not to defend it, but in situations like this I think they have to be vague for legal reasons. There's a fine line between reporting the news and defamation (regardless of how true it is).
It's bullshit, and people will use defamation and lawyers to attack people accusing them. But I can see why you'd want to be extra careful how you worded the title.
Eeeeeexactly
Seems like he waited until they were 18 before meeting them, although he would send sexually-charged texts to women as young as 16.
Roiland usually asked people how old they were, if they were single, and if they were “into girls.” In three cases, when the person said they were under 18, Roiland would message them again months or years later. Those three conversations started with people who said they were 16 at the time, and continued for years, until they were 18 and older.
So did he actually groom them? Because the way this is written it sounds like he asked them their age, and then waited for them to be legal, which is creepy, but I wouldn't call it grooming.
Lmao age of consent laws don't mean it isn't statutory rape.
They totally do. By definition. What do you think the "statute" in "statutory" is referring to?
Tshh it's when you rape a statue silly.
I think it's Betrayal at House on the Hill where you lay out all the tiles to build the house, and one of them has permanently become the Statutory Corridor according to our house rules (because we've misread it so many times).
I think you're missing the double negative I used. Lol I'm saying that even if someone is above the age of consent, statutory rape is still an applicable charge.
By definition, it isn't
That's the whole point of the law
Take it up with Virginia; age of consent there is 15. Intercourse with a minor above 15 as an adult can still give you statutory rape charges, as referenced here: "The age of consent for intercourse is 15 years old in Virginia; however, there are other sex acts that set the age at 18. These acts include cunnilingus, fellatio, and anal intercourse, which means that minors cannot legally consent to certain sexual activity. Additionally, if you are an adult and have sex with a person under 18 years of age, you may be prosecuted for statutory rape. Statutory rape is generally charged as a Class 4 Felony, but the exact charge and penalties will depend on all the factors and ages involved."
Pulled from https://www.roanokecriminalattorney.com/how-does-virginia-define-consent/
It isn't always the case, generally age of consent precludes it, but not always. Age of consent isn't a get out of jail free card. Additionally, it doesn't specify about relations between people in positions of power.
It's all moot anyway, Roiland lives in CA, and he was inviting a 17 year old to his house in Los Angeles. Age of consent there is 18. Did he assault her? No, but what 36 year old man is inviting a 17 year old to his house? Multiple other reports of girls at 18, still in high school, also receiving advances from him.
If there are exceptions then "age of consent" in Virginia doesn't mean the same thing as it does in other states, so all this shows is that they're re-defining the term.
I don't think that tracks; I've always been under the impression that age of consent was just when you could consent to sexual activity. It didn't account for age differences, power dynamics, or other factors that push it towards statutory rape. It was "at this age, they are able to consent to activity", and then you would have the limiting factors of age difference, power imbalance, family, etc applied through other statutes.
I very well could be wrong or just applying knowledge of my own local area to places that don't operate that way, so I'll bow out on that. I do know that age of consent isn't just a blanket shield against statutory rape in some locales or situations, though. The "statutory" part of statutory rape isn't limited to only age of consent.
"Statutory rape" just means rape by law, not necessarily by any kind of consent (since legally they can't).
These acts include cunnilingus, fellatio, and anal intercourse, which means that minors cannot legally consent to certain sexual activity
These are anti-gay laws btw. That's the entire purpose of these specific exceptions.
There is further conversation with another user below this, but that isn't the case in some places, namely Virginia.
Additionally, statutory rape isn't just bound to age of consent. There are myriad other statutes it can apply through, namely family, age difference, and positions of power over minors above the age of consent.
The statutes (and therefore the term statutory) define the age of consent. Sometimes the age of consent can vary and isn't as simple as one number.
Legal expert spotted
Literally in the second paragraph of the article and the summary at the top of this post.
But as he partied with Los Angeles’ superstars and traveled the country for conventions, he also found he could use his fame to strike up conversations and develop relationships with young fans, including some who were underage.
The article then goes on to discuss his conversations with underage fans. The article uses "young" because his conversations with of-age but teenaged fans were also bad.
The fact that these women and enby folks were underage is like the most important part of the story. Calling underage girls "young" and not correctly calling them underage in the title of the story is called burying the lede.
Justin Roiland used his ‘Rick and Morty’ fame to pursue young and underage fans, text messages show would have been a better title.
For most people, except apparently many in this thread, "young" heavily implies underage. When character limits matter, it's okay to start by saying "young," which is accurate, then clarify further in the article.
Lemmy has an unusually high concentration of people who have an inability to understand context.
For example, every joke, the top comment is "I don't understand, can someone please explain?"
I tend to give jokes a pass. Humor is often contextual and cultural so some jokes really do require an explanation.
Per the article, he explicitly did not pursue underage fans, though.
Roiland usually asked people how old they were, if they were single, and if they were “into girls.” In three cases, when the person said they were under 18, Roiland would message them again months or years later. Those three conversations started with people who said they were 16 at the time, and continued for years, until they were 18 and older.
Talking about the title
I think you must have missed their last sentence. The title uses young because it wasn’t just underaged girls he was texting, and texting the 18 and 19 year olds at his age is also a pretty bad look.
Still creepy if not illegal at just above 18. Turns out he was more than just creepy though.
"Underage" in which locale, and for what? If you're referring to age of consent, 16 isn't underage in most places, as it shouldn't be.
Fuck off pedo
What makes you right and a lot of the rest of the world wrong? Why is 18 the right number instead of 16?
I'm not arguing with a pedo