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.
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You say he abuses his fame and power. I don’t really see and power accept money and fame. If people are attracted to fame and power, then why should he not be allowed to use his? Why is that different than a woman who shows off her breasts to get a date?
You don’t see why unbalanced power dynamics lead to abusive situations?
So you are saying that all golddiggers are automatically victims now because there is an ‘unbalanced power dynamic’?
I don’t really get the people that bitching about using their fame to get laid either. Are we only allowed to date within our own social class? If they’re being coercive, yea, that’s a problem but it’s possible to have a relationship without coercion.
I’m not defending this dude but the problem with him was that he was pursuing minors not that he was famous and successful.