Is 'Rick and Morty' Canceled? Dan Harmon Under Scrutiny For Old Sketch
Calls are mounting for beloved animated series Adult Swim's Rick and Morty to be canceled—in both senses of the word as co-creator Dan Harmon faces backlash for an old sketch.
Harmon is once again facing scrutiny for the old clip from 2009 which has recently remerged online.
The sketch itself is a parody of serial killer show Dexter, titled Daryl, that many considered deeply inappropriate because Harmon simulates the rape of a baby doll for laughs.
The Daryl skit did the rounds on social media back in 2018, prompting an apology from Harmon.
Per Deadline, Harmon issued an apology for the "distasteful" video at the time.
"In 2009, I made a 'pilot' which strove to parody the series Dexter and only succeeded in offending," Harmon said. "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."
He also deleted his Twitter account during the debacle.
Adult Swim distanced themselves from Harmon, saying the Daryl clip "does not reflect the type of content we seek out."
Their statement read: "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 judgment 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."
Uproxx reports that the Daryl clip has been recently circulating online by a number of accounts that have been focused on child trafficking and sexual abuse with the #savethechildren hashtag, which, according to Snopes, has been co-opted by some sharing misinformation about conspiracy theories and pedophilia rings.
Will Rick and Morty be canceled?
At the time of reporting, it's quite unlikely.
The series has recently aired its fourth season and Season 5 is reportedly well underway with Adult Swim sharing a teaser for the latest batch of episodes.
The show was renewed for a staggering 70 new episodes back in May 2018 before Season 4 came out, so that means there are still at least four more seasons to go after the upcoming run.
Ultimately, Harmon already faced backlash for the clip in 2018, so its resurgence is of dubious origin. Perhaps it is a byproduct of the cancel culture crescendo of 2020, and perhaps many people are just discovering the clip for the first time and reacting.
Uncommon Knowledge
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