Adult Swim ends association with Justin Roiland ahead of domestic violence trial

Adult Swim has ended its association with Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland, as he awaits trial on charges of felony domestic violence against a former girlfriend.

A statement from the channel said that the popular US cartoon would continue into season seven, despite the writer’s absence.

Along with Dan Harmon, Roiland created the animated sci-fi sitcom about a mad scientist and his grandson, and provides the voices of the two title characters.

Rick and Morty has aired for six seasons on Cartoon Network as part of its Adult Swim night-time programming block, and has been renewed for a seventh.

A statement released by Adult Swim online on Tuesday read: “Adult Swim has ended its association with Justin Roiland.

“Rick and Morty will continue. The talented and dedicated crew are hard at work on Season 7.”

A criminal complaint previously obtained by The Associated Press, from prosecutors in Orange County, California, charged Roiland, 42, with corporal injury and false imprisonment by menace, fraud, violence or deceit against the woman, who he was living with at the time.

The woman was not identified in court documents and Roiland has pleaded not guilty.

The incident occurred in January of 2020 and Roiland was charged in May of that year, but the charges apparently went unnoticed by media outlets until NBC News reported them on Thursday, when a pre-trial hearing was held in the case.

Emails seeking comment from Roiland’s attorney and representatives for Cartoon Network, which airs Rick and Morty in the US, were not immediately returned. Roiland is set to return to court in April.

A trial date has not been set.