Rick and Morty has been in troubled territory for the last few weeks. The show’s creator and lead voice actor, Justin Roiland, is facing domestic violence charges and will soon be on trial, compounded by the emergence of creepy messages he allegedly sent to underage girls.
Faced with that, many suspected this might be the end of the road for the animated show, though last night, Adult Swim made the choice to part ways with Roiland and confirmed that Rick and Morty would continue with a new voice actor. Who that’ll be remains to be seen (though fans have their suggestions), but it’s worth remembering that the network has been in this exact position before.
In Squidbillies, Stuart Daniel Baker voiced lead character Early Cuyler for twelve seasons before being fired from the show after making bizarre comments on social media about Black Lives Matter being a “freak show” and calling Dolly Parton a “freak-titted, old Southern bimbo” for supporting the movement.
Baker then learned that you just don’t screw with Parton, promptly lost his job and endorsements, and then got flamed out on social media as he wept over his ruined career.
Adult Swim promptly recast the character with Tracy Morgan, himself no stranger to facing criticism for making controversial statements. Morgan voiced Cuyler in the final season of the show, the fans quickly warmed to him, and the show ended on something of a high note.
Perhaps this should all be a lesson to voice actors out there that nobody’s bigger than their creation, and if you screw up, there’ll be someone who can do the character waiting in the wings to take your job.
