Rick and Morty creator Dan Harmon found himself in the middle of controversy once again when a video of him interacting in a video with a baby doll resurfaced. The video was apparently a parody of Showtime’s Dexter television show, but included graphic simulations with the baby doll. It’s extremely repulsive.
After the video surfaced, Harmon deleted his Twitter account on Monday.
Harmon issued a statement to USA Today from his representative Rebecca Knaack on Tuesday:
“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.”
Much like James Gunn, who found himself in a similar situation, Harmon does not apologize for actually creating the video. He apologizes for the situation the video created.
Adult Swim which is the late night programming on Cartoon Network targeted towards adults issued their own statement:
“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.”
Harmon had previously admitted to sexually harassing writer Megan Ganz after she accused him in January of this year.
I wish my memories were foggier. I wish there was a way to fix it. It took me years to believe in my talents again, to trust a boss when he complimented me and not cringe when he asked for my number. I was afraid to be enthusiastic, knowing it might be turned against me later.
— Megan Ganz (@meganganz) January 3, 2018
I haven’t listened to your podcast, but I don’t think walls are the answer. Unless you put them up with male coworkers, too. Otherwise you’re falling into the Mike Pence School of Gender Relations that says men can’t be trusted with women’s phone numbers.
— Megan Ganz (@meganganz) January 3, 2018
But if I can offer this: It’s good to recognize power dynamics, but it’s also good to recognize you’re no different from those you employ. You’re not a king on a hilltop, nor a beast in a labyrinth. Isolation isn’t always best. Connection breeds empathy. Empathy allows growth.
— Megan Ganz (@meganganz) January 3, 2018
Harmon addressed the accusations on his podcast Harmontown:
“I broke up with my girlfriend, then I went right full-steam into creeping on my employee… And then after that season, I got overt about my feelings after it was wrapped and said “I love you,” and she said the same thing she’d been saying the entire time, in one language or another: “Please, don’t you understand that focusing on me like this, liking me like this, preferring me like this, I can’t say no to it, and when you do it, it makes me unable to know whether I’m good at my job?”
And because I finally got to the point where I said to her, “Oh, I love you” — because that’s what I thought it was when you target somebody for two years — and it was therefore rejected that way, I was humiliated… Now I wanted to teach her a lesson. I wanted to show her that if she didn’t like being liked in that way, then oh boy, she should get over herself. After all, if you’re just gonna be a writer, this is how “just writers” get treated…I drank, I took pills, I crushed on her and resented her for not reciprocating it.
And the entire time, I was the one writing her paychecks and in control of whether she stayed or went and whether she felt good about herself or not, and said horrible things, just treated her cruelly, pointedly. Things that I would never ever ever have done if she had been male and if I had never had those feelings for her. And I lied to myself the entire time about it, and I lost my job, I ruined my show, I betrayed the audience, I destroyed everything, and I damaged her internal compass. And I moved on. And I never did it before, and I will never do it again, but I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do it if I had any respect for women on a fundamental level. I was thinking about them as different creatures, I was thinking about the ones that I liked as having some special role in my life, and I did it all by not thinking about it.”
You can see the entire clip here:
Ganz took to Twitter to accept Harmon’s apology:
I’m not being flippant. I didn’t bring up this mess just to sweep it back under the rug. But I find myself in the odd position of having requested an apology publicly, and then having received one—a good one—also publicly. I waited 6 years for it, but you can find it 18:38 in.
— Megan Ganz (@meganganz) January 11, 2018
Yes, I only listened because I expected an apology. But what I didn’t expect was the relief I’d feel just hearing him say these things actually happened. I didn’t dream it. I’m not crazy. Ironic that the only person who could give me that comfort is the one person I’d never ask.
— Megan Ganz (@meganganz) January 11, 2018
This was never about vengeance; it’s about vindication. That’s why it didn’t feel right to just accept his apology in private (although I did that, too). Because if any part of this process should be done in the light, it’s the forgiveness part. And so, @danharmon, I forgive you.
— Megan Ganz (@meganganz) January 11, 2018
Based on Adult Swim’s statement, it looks like Harmon will continue with Cartoon Network for new episodes of Rick and Morty. What do you make of their statement? Are you glad Dan Harmon didn’t get fired?