Dan Harmon Addresses Justin Roiland’s ‘Rick & Morty’ Controversy: I’m ‘Ashamed and Heartbroken’

Dan Harmon is addressing his “Rick and Morty” co-creator Justin Roiland’s assault and abuse allegations.

In January 2023, felony domestic violence charges were filed against Roiland over a 2020 incident. The case was dismissed in March; however, numerous other allegations of toxic workplace behavior and sexual harrassment of “Rick and Morty” fans were uncovered. Roiland was fired from Adult Swim and no longer voices the two titular characters in the animated series “Rick and Morty” ahead of the seventh season.

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Harmon, who has not spoken to Roiland since 2019, told The Hollywood Reporter that he is “ashamed and heartbroken” over the allegations.

“The easiest thing for me to say about Justin has been nothing. Easy because he isolated so well and easy because I’m nobody’s first choice as a judge of anything or anyone,” Harmon said. “This is where I’d love to change the subject to myself, to what a piece of crap I’ve been my whole public life. I would feel so safe and comfortable making this about me, but that trick is worthless here and dangerous to others. It’s other people’s safety and comfort that got damaged while I obsessed over a cartoon’s quality.”

The “Community” creator continued, “Trust has now been violated between countless people and a show designed to please them. I’m frustrated, ashamed and heartbroken that a lot of hard work, joy and passion can be leveraged to exploit and harm strangers.”

Harmon reflected on the final time he was in contact with Roiland via text message in 2019.

“He said things that he’d never said before about being unhappy, and I remember saying to him the last time we spoke in person, like, ‘I am worried about you, and I don’t know what to do about that except to give you all the string and also just say I’m scared that you’re not going to come back,'” Harmon said of the digital conversation with Roiland. “But then this conversation became unprecedentedly confrontational. I think that’s as far as I get to take the story. At that point, we’re no longer both there for it, and it starts to become not only unfair for me to continue but totally uncomfortable because, from there, a friendship goes away, and I still don’t fully understand why.”

Harmon further told THR that prior to the WGA strike, Warner Bros. approached him about a “Rick and Morty” feature film similar to a “super episode” approach that the “South Park” movie had.

Meanwhile, Harmon’s “Krapopolis” has debuted on Fox and a “Community” movie adaptation set around the community college reunion is still in the works. Harmon confirmed that Donald Glover is reprising his role after initially not being included in the official casting release. Chevy Chase is the sole original cast member not returning.

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