Well, if you materially weaken the product by shit-canning its lead you're going to have problems anyway, so I don't see the diff!
But that's by the by; Let me explain my problem with this sort of trial in the court of public opinion.
I abhor the whole "actions have consequences" line because its idiotically simplistic. If the "consequences" in itself is an "action", then your consequences have consequences by the exact same logic. How could this possibly go wrong...
The point about the law being the line that needs to be observed can be neatly summed up with the analogy that the entire legal system is just a kind of measuring instrument. And like any measuring instrument its not going to be infallible, because no matter how flawless its mechanical design is, it can be misused and made inaccurate by human error.
So, what do we do with that understanding? Decide that because the instrument isn't always flawlessly accurate, we might as well just eyeball the results? Because replacing actual or quasi-objectivity with a double dose of subjectivity is going to prove more reliable in the long run?
NO! We don't do that because its evidently moronic and just going to result in worse outcomes. The rational response is to improve the instrument and train people in how not to misuse it.
You have to trust in some sort of process, or else all bets are off. Roiland was effectively found guilty and punished entirely extra-judicially and that's not a "win" for anyone but those who take vicarious delight in watching his downfall.
We all lose, because we're creating a climate where guilt and punishment is meted out subjectively by those with the power to enforce it.
How is the product damaged by firing him? People who know Justin was the voice actor will most likely know what he did. People who don’t know who Justin is will simply notice the voices changed which is a frequent occurrence in animation.
And no, a business does not have to tolerate such behavior and be expected to train a 43 year old man in obvious shit like “don’t text a teenage girl and tell her to become a victim of human trafficking”. Christ, for all the stuff HR tells their employees that they should have learned long before they became employees in how to not act like a douchebag, I would hope we don’t have to add THAT to the list.
And yes, punishment is dealt out by an employer to an employee. That’s how society works. For a long ass time.
I don’t give a fuck how it affects “the climate” or whatever angle you’re going for. A business has a product. This moron damaged the image of said product. The business acts accordingly. That’s how reality works. Christ, Justin isn’t some naive young man fresh out of high school, once again, he’s 43! If after having lived that many years, he honestly thought texting a minor something like that would end well for him (never mind why he’s texting her anything at all!), then they’d have to recast anyway, as a genius like Rick should probably be played by someone with an IQ higher than 10.
I have zero sympathy for someone that age doing something so monumentally stupid and questionable. If he knew how employment works and how doing what he did could affect his career, well then he made his choice and can live with it. If at 43 he somehow didn’t know that, well it’s not a business’ job to teach him how life works, but really one would think if you’re going to pull a stunt like he did, you MIGHT think to contact the owners of the franchise you’re a major part of and ask, “hey, is a known name connected to Rick and Morty like me telling a minor to enter human trafficking going to affect the brand in any way?” Seems like an obvious answer to me, but hey, not for Justin, I guess. Well, hey, he decided to go for it, and he sure learned a lot!
As a wise man said not too long ago, “because the more you fuck around, the more you’re going to find out!”
