‘Rick & Morty’ Co-Creator Dan Harmon Deletes Twitter And Apologizes After Lewd Video Resurfaces
Rick & Morty co-creator Dan Harmon has deleted his Twitter account following the resurfacing of a comedy video that is being spread across various corners of the internet, including on 4chan, far-right blogs, and The_Donald subreddit.
In the 2009 video entitled “Daryl,” a parody of the Showtime series Dexter, a half-unclothed Harmon graphically violates a baby doll multiple times. The video had originally been created for Channel 101, a website that Harmon co-founded.
The website Polygon has the most complete rundown of how the video started spreading across the internet over the weekend.
In addition to leaving Twitter, Harmon issued the following statement to media:
“In 2009, I made a ‘pilot’ which strove to parody the series Dexter and only succeeded in offending. I quickly realized the content was way too distasteful and took the video down immediately. Nobody should ever have to see what you saw and for that, I sincerely apologize.”
Turner’s Adult Swim, a subsidiary of AT&T-Time Warner, which broadcasts Rick and Morty, issued its own statement in support of Harmon:
“At Adult Swim, we seek out and encourage creative freedom and look to push the envelope in many ways, particularly around comedy. The offensive content of Dan’s 2009 video that recently surfaced demonstrates poor judgement and does not reflect the type of content we seek out. Dan recognized his mistake at the time and has apologized. He understands there is no place for this type of content here at Adult Swim.”
Adult Swim has not indicated that it will take any further action on the matter.
In a thread on Twitter last weekend, Cartoon Brew spoke of today’s toxic social media environment, in which prominent names who maintain an online presence are often targeted:
Some observations: since the Butch Hartman controversy started, he's LOST over 4600 follows on Twitter and an even larger amount on Youtube. Since the James Gunn controversy started, he's GAINED over 17500 followers. Interesting how online controversy helps some but hurts others.
— Cartoon Brew (@cartoonbrew) July 22, 2018
This is the second time that Harmon has been embroiled in controversy this year. Last January, he admitted to derailing the career of a woman who worked on his NBC series Community, sexually harassing her, and treating her “like garbage.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
