Dan Harmon Responds To Accusations Of Sexual Assault And Misconduct Against His ‘Rick And Morty’ Co-Creator Justin Roiland: “I’m Frustrated, Ashamed, And Heartbroken” 

Dan Harmon officially addressed the accusations of sexual assault and misconduct made against his Rick and Morty collaborator, Justin Roiland.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Harmon revealed that the last time he and Roiland spoke was during a tense confrontation via text message in 2019. But he said he was “ashamed and heartbroken” to learn of the multiple claims that Roiland leveraged his fame to engage in inappropriate behavior with young fans, who were sometimes minors, and women he met online.

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

Prior to this interview, Harmon has not said much about his relationship with Roiland.

“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. “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.”

In the recent investigation against him, Roiland was accused of grooming, sexual assault, and pursuing minors and teenagers using his Rick and Morty fame. He has since denied the accusations.

Now, his brainchild and claim to fame is moving on without him. Rick and Morty Season 7 is scheduled to premiere on October 15. A new trailer has already dropped, teasing the mysterious voice actors they hired to replace Roiland, who voiced both titular characters of the series. His name has also been removed from the credits.

Harmon told THR that he largely avoided the casting process for finding Roiland’s replacements.

“It’s all just sad because the goal is for it to be indistinguishable. At the same time, it would be absurd to suddenly decide that the entire foundation of your creative project was, oh, coincidentally, unimportant,” he said.

But the writer recalled the tensions he felt behind the scenes with Roiland when they were still partners on the show. Roiland reportedly began pulling back in Season 2 and expressed that he felt that he was living in Harmon’s shadow. It only got worse from there during Season 3 when Roiland stopped showing up to work.

Though there were periods later on where it felt like they were “in love again,” as Harmon put it, the two haven’t spoken since having an “unprecedentedly confrontational” text message conversation in 2019.

But now, Harmon believes the series could have a run as successful as The Simpsons, which has been on air since 1989.

Rick and Morty is streaming on Hulu and Max. Season 7 is set to premiere on Adult Swim on Sunday, October 15.