Jman

This line hits harder in retrospect -

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/netflix-q4-2022-earnings-1235304217/ Almost like all those shows Twitter was complaining about canceling weren’t being watched by a lot of people. That said the company is still in full dramatic change mode, with Reed Hastings stepping down as co-CEO. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/netflix-shocker-reed-hastings-to-exit-co-ceo-role-will-remain-as-executive-chairman-1235304437/

I’m going to guess he made this while still neck deep in his alcoholism. This screams “I’m working through something.”

Yeah but that’s Troma. Weird, edgy shit is their reason for being. It’s actually kind of weird, you sort of brush shit off from Troma because they’re essentially B-movie shock jocks. I dunno, does making edgy shit mean you’re predisposed to being a scumbag? Some would argue it’s essentially acting out in a way they never would in real life. Others would point to Roiland being an alleged woman beater.

https://screenrant.com/batman-joker-mark-hamill-return-no-explained/ Basically Mark thinks without Kevin’s Batman, his Joker doesn’t work, so he’s retiring from the character.

Gunn didn’t physically assault anyone, and the rumor was he got the job by default because everyone else Warner approached turned it down.

While revenue for a lot of internet sites that rely on advertising is down, Twitter's is far ahead of the curve, with over 500 advertisers refusing to well...advertise.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/justin-roiland-domestic-violence-charges-hulu-adult-swim-20th-tv-1235299052/ The Hollywood Reporter has tried to get comments from numerous people invested in Roiland, only to be met with silence. They're pointing out the silence here. And yeah, that High on Life video game is basically a giant Rick and Morty episode. Namely, shit gets grating VERY quickly.

And Elon wonders where his market share is going.

Tesla continues to slash prices to shore up their main business as Musk's association is blunting the attractiveness of the brand, coupled with increased competition from more traditional automakers. https://thehustle.co/01172023-Tesla-price-cuts/?utm_campaign=Tuesday Email&utm_content=01172023-Tesla-price-cuts&utm_medium=email&utm_source=daily&utm_term=4ABCD Now if only the damn things wouldn't explode.

‘This is apparently to maintain animation quality.

This is more pointing out the court of public opinion isn’t about to leave this alone. Unless evidence comes out that absolves Roiland, this will essentially render him toxic for a while, worse if the evidence in trial doesn’t go in his favor. And with Adult Swim a barren wasteland besides Rick, that puts them in a very, very tough spot. Adult Swim doesn’t have Family Guy anymore. Their anime lineup is barren. The Pickus Rickus has been carrying the entire block ever since FG bounced to Freeform. Without it, things will rapidly deteriorate unless they do what, want to bring back more ongoing Aqua Teen?

And here comes the horror stories - https://www.themarysue.com/what-did-justin-roiland-do-the-justin-roiland-controversy-explained/

https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2023-01-15/made-in-abyss-the-golden-city-of-the-scorching-sun-anime-gets-sequel/.193834 No set date, just that it’s happening.

The former is why I think Zaslav is the wild card in all this. Does he see an asset he needs to protect, talent that deals with things on their own, or another tax write off he can cut loose?

The former. The latter seems to be a side effect. They are focusing more on animation with licenses, outsourcing to outside studios and Japan, etc. In this case and all the cases, however, it’s because these shows weren’t bringing in the views, and they presume the strategic shift will.

If these were misdemeanor, sure. Pull a Chris Brown, pretend nothing happened, move on. But this was assault and false imprisonment with a weapon. If this goes to trial, I think Zaslav sees his exit strategy and voids the Rick and Morty contract so he can brag to the stockholders about how much money he saved. It's rough. If this goes to trial, though, things will go downhill fast for all involved parties. Especially the poor Jane Doe, who will probably need to be put in some sort of Witness Protection to escape Reddit weirdos blaming her for threatening their precious show.

My guess is DeMarco and friends are keeping quiet about this until trial. They don’t want to act until they know how the evidence looks, and even then it’s going to be rough if they choose to recast Roiland, but Nickelodeon has done similar with shows like the Loud House where creep creators were excised from the process.

The Zaslav fire sale extends to music.

This was inevitable. From a layman’s POV, any ability to view this as a mutual issue the way Dana White and his wife slapping each other was got destroyed when it was a felony charge, meaning a weapon was involved. Justin was threatening this woman with something lethal, be it a gun, knife, or whatever. That is not cancel culture. That’s assault.

One more thing for reference, these are felony charges, which in the state of California, means that Roiland assaulted the Jane Doe with a weapon. (Barehanded abuse is apparently just a misdemeanor in the state). That’s a sentence of 2-6 years in state prison if convicted, with an additional 3 years for the imprisonment felony (which again, in California means threats with a weapon). That makes things a lot worse if he was using a weapon. So if this goes to trial, (which I doubt, although he did plead not guilty) all his shows are done. He’s basically Cosby at that point.

There's no getting around the fact that this is a rough situation, especially if more stuff about Roiland becomes public knowledge. Twitter has actually pointed out that it was an open secret in the industry that Roiland was a creep for years, and would help his buddy Alex Hirsch (creator of Gravity Falls) hook up with underage girls. The problem is Roiland has his fingers in a LOT of pies, so it is very easy for him to deflect, apologize, and Adult Swim forget all of this happened to keep the Rick money flowing like Sezuchan sauce from whatever unholy vat McDonalds makes the stuff in. However, if this goes to trial, or more comes out, the wild card in this race is Zaslav. Like I said, as part of his slash and burning spree, one of the shows he looked to cancel was American Dad! but he had no way to break the contract Seth MacFarlane had with Warner. Zaslav, if he was so inclined, could use any trial as a pretense to canceling Rick and Morty and getting out of a very expensive contract. Of course if he does that, how Adult Swim recovers from a one-two punch in two years of losing Family Guy AND Rick and Morty remains to be seen. You think things are bad for Toonami? Comedy would be in an even worse spot. On a personal level - Fuck Roiland and Hirsch if those accusations are true, but on a business level, this either is something both sides due their damndest to deflect, or something that one side will use as an excuse to bounce on a very expensive contract.

This is tough. He may be too big to fail. On the other hand, last month Zaslav was desperately trying to cancel American Dad only to be told the contract wouldn’t let him.

It still might. Recasting Morty might be a bridge too far. Solar Opposites is probably done without a second thought though.