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

  • dangblingus@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    What mentality do you think someone who only chases 18 year old girls has? If the age of consent was lower, they’d go lower.

    • Copernican@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      But it’s not lower and he didn’t go lower. I think he’s a creep. Just not sure he’s technically a pedophile or doing anything super illegal based on the article. And being into 18 year olds isn’t that out there. Just look at porn, strip clubs, the model industry, film industry etc… Also, not sure if he only chases 18 year olds. That was just the topic of the article about the 18/early 20s.