Elon musk comes under fire for defending Justin Roiland amid grooming scandal
4 min readAfter Adult Swim announced it would “end its association” with Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland on January 24, 2023, Elon Musk called him the “heart of the show.” Following news of Roiland’s alleged problematic conversations with minors and domestic violence charges, the network fired him. In response to Justin Roiland’s announcement, YouTuber Tim Pool, @timcast, shared a tweet saying: how lol… Justin Roiland is Rick and Morty. Musk responded by tweeting: He is also the show’s heart. Not only is Musk a fan of the show, but he appeared in one episode as a character resembling him, Elon Tusk. In the show, Rick and Tusk were friends, and Tusk had a company called Tuskla.
how lol
— Tim Pool (@Timcast) January 25, 2023
justin is rick *and* morty https://t.co/WzwGkOedHF
Furthermore, Roiland voiced the titular characters in Rick and Morty alongside Dan Harmon. Harmon will serve as the showrunner in future episodes, and Rick and Morty’s voices will be recast. The show inked a 70-episode contract with Adult Swim in 2018. In spite of this, Roiland will remain credited as a co-creator. One of the exhibits in the lawsuit Twitter filed against Musk after he attempted to break his purchase agreement last year included Roiland’s text message to Musk. Roiland wrote, I fucking love the fact that you own the majority of Twitter. My friends David and Daniel have a program that verifies identities, which I think could be integrated with Twitter. Social media screenshots of Roiland’s conversations with minors have surfaced alongside the domestic violence charges.
He is also the heart of the show
— Mr. Tweet (@elonmusk) January 25, 2023
Tesla CEO Elon Musk Faces Online Backlash For Defending Domestic Abuser Justin Roiland
Tesla founder Elon Musk left internet users frustrated after he defended Rick and Morty creator Justin Roiland in a tweet. Musk’s comment was questioned by some, citing the actor’s numerous criminal charges. They supported Adult Swim’s decision. One user blasted Musk, stating: Abusers travel in packs and protect their own. In response to Musk’s comment, many netizens wondered if he had many skeletons in his closet. Other users slammed the billionaire on Twitter with sarcastic comments. Justin Roiland was accused of criminal domestic assault and false imprisonment, according to a comment left by the user. Another person wrote that Elon defending Justin Roiland is the final nail in his coffin. Several others were also furious when Musk defended Roiland. The NBC News reported on Roiland’s upcoming domestic abuse trial on January 12, 2023, which stemmed from an incident that occurred with the person he was dating at the time in January 2020.
A judge presided over the Rick and Morty creator’s pre-trial hearing on the same day the news broke. It was reported that in May 2020, the Orange County District Attorney accused him of felony domestic violence on a spouse or cohabitant with corporal harm and false imprisonment by threats, violence, fraud, or deceit. The arrest of Roiland took place in August 2020, and he was released on bail. Roiland’s domestic violence charges surfaced after an alleged conversation between him and a teenager was published online from an account that has now been made private. A number of other netizens have also stepped forward to share screenshots of Justin Roiland’s alleged problematic chats with minors since then. The charges were filed against him in October 2020, and he pleaded not guilty. His employment with Adult Swim was also terminated, as well as his position with Hulu and his animated show, Solar Opposites. On April 27, 2023, Justin Roiland is scheduled to appear in court for an additional pre-trial hearing.
News: Guy deals with a shocking discovery about a friend in a weird way
— rung (@rungitup) January 26, 2023
Justin Roiland accused of felony domestic abuse including one felony count of false imprisonment.
— Cullen (@cullend) January 25, 2023
Elon Musk: "But, but, what about Rick and Morty" https://t.co/geX6sx5L9f
“Heart of the show” from what I’ve heard, his only contributions since season 3 have been ad libs and some of the more off-color jokes while Dan Harmon and the writers do literally everything else lol
— Billy Haze (@HiBillyHazeHere) January 25, 2023
Conservatives will fly into a rage and threaten the LGBTQ+ community for “grooming children” and then jump to defend an *actual* child predator when he faces consequences of his actions https://t.co/lWazK2jaga
— Mic 🌝 (@mic_kamer) January 26, 2023
Elon is definitely the type of dude to stick up for abusers and predators. Birds of a feather https://t.co/eFHRcQnouD pic.twitter.com/wDF3hoMMUX
— 𝐍.𝐇. 𝐖𝐞𝐛𝐞𝐫 (@NHWWrites) January 26, 2023
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