Justin Roiland has been accused of using his success to lure young fans, it has been claimed.
The 43-year-old co-created the hugely popular adult animated sitcom, Rick and Morty, along with Dan Harmon, and voiced both roles.
Earlier this year, he was dropped from the program after facing domestic abuse allegations, but was later cleared of the charges.
In a bombshell new expose by NBC News, he is alleged to have used his fame to develop relationships with young – and sometimes underage – fans, with 11 people coming forward.
The outlet spoke to multiple women and nonbinary people who claim to have interacted to Roiland, with many of them, including three who were under 16 at the time, alleging that their discussions turned sexual.
The actor was accused of approaching young fans on both social media and dating apps, and would shower them in compliments before asking about their sexuality, and requesting to meet.
One woman, who remained anonymous, claimed that he messaged her on Tinder with a reference to Rick and Morty in 2019, when she was 20, and although she was unfamiliar with his work, she understood that he was famous.
The publication reports that she replied by asking if they could ‘go shopping and have fun’, while also suggesting a coffee and a chat and making him aware that she was under 21.
They reportedly met that night and went to a restaurant where he bought her ‘mixed drinks’ – she claimed that she had two beverages and felt drunk, after which they went shopping and back to his hotel room.
Roiland allegedly asked her to perform oral sex on him, which she initially refused and resisted – but he reportedly pushed her head towards his crotch.
‘From the moment it happened, I knew that it was not okay,’ she told NBC. ‘But I felt a lot of different feelings, like that it was my fault. I felt guilty for asking him to buy me stuff. I felt maybe I owed it to him. And I was embarrassed.’
They continued speaking after the incident but the woman allegedly confronted him over text messages, which were obtained by the outlet.
In the exchange, she reportedly said he didn’t handle the ‘sexual stuff’ in the best way, explaining that ‘consent is important’, to which he apologized and clarified that he ‘didn’t get consent’.
In messages published on the publication’s site, she claimed that he said he thought it ‘turned her on to be forced’.
Roiland’s attorney addressed some of the allegations made by NBC News, claiming that the creator felt ‘duped and taken advantage of’ by the woman who suggested they should go shopping, alleging that she offered to sell him her pornographic videos – but did not respond to the forced oral sex claims.
She reportedly responded that she offered to sell her content after he expressed an interest, but quoted him double the price she normally charges and never went through with it.
NBC reports that the messages they reviewed showed that he would have identical conversations with people he approached, discussing the program and his success before usually asking the recipients their ages and sexualities.
Some claimed that they were 16 at the time, with Roiland reportedly describing two unnamed women – who spoke to the outlet anonymously – as ‘jailbait’.
In May, 2016, Roiland reportedly messaged a 19-year-old when he was 36, praising her artwork – something that initially delighted the teenager.
They continued to chat and he allegedly invited her to his home in LA the following year, paying for the tickets from her home of Pennsylvania himself.
The woman revealed that her dad voiced his concerns about Roiland’s intentions, to which he vowed that he would ‘make absolutely 100% sure nothing bad would happen’, in messaged obtained by the outlet.
According to NBC, he discussed sex and asked whether she was ‘into girls’, before the trip – which took place in March, 2017.
After he threw a party to celebrate the third series of Rick and Morty, they were left alone with a female friend, when they allegedly got into the hot tub while drinking.
She explained that she doesn’t remember much of the night in question, but has full recollection of the sexual acts – alleging that Roiland asked them both to perform sexual acts on each other, before she had sex with him while the friend was there, something that she felt uncomfortable about.
After this, she said she went back to a guest room to discuss the incident with a friend on the phone, and shared her belief that she was more ‘incapacitated than usual’, and later expressed her discomfort to the star.
The woman alleged that he propositioned her for sex the following morning and she consented, but felt pressure to let him film it.
While Roiland has yet to speak out publicly over the claims, his lawyer, Andrew Brettler, added that the allegations against him are ‘false and defamatory’.
Concerning the Pennsylvania resident, Brettler claimed that the pair had ‘consensual sex’ before the alleged hot tub incident – something she said she does not remember – and added that Roiland was not responsible for sexual acts that took place between her and his friend.
Metro.co.uk has contacted Roiland’s reps for a comment.
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