John Kricfalusi, the creator of Nickelodeon’s “The Ren & Stimpy Show,” has been accused of sexual misconduct, statutory rape and child pornography in a new report by BuzzFeed News.
In the report, Katie Rice and Robyn Byrd say that Kricfalusi pursued them sexually when they were teenagers. Byrd even became a live-in girlfriend. An attorney for Kricfalusi told BuzzFeed: “For a brief time, 25 years ago, he had a 16-year-old girlfriend.”
Tony Mora — an art director at Warner Bros. at the time — and Warner Bros. producer Gabe Swarr, also told BuzzFeed that Kricfalusi had a reputation for harassing female artists and teenage girls. “It’s always been there,” Mora said.
BuzzFeed’s report also cites old letters, emails and AOL transcripts from the years of the accused behavior.
Representatives from Nickelodeon declined to comment, while a representative for Kricfalusi did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
Rice told BuzzFeed that while Kricfalusi never had a physical relationship with her, he began hitting on her when she was a minor — sending flirty letters and masturbating while talking to her on the phone.
She also said that in 2017, she successfully reported Kricfalusi for child pornography, but that detectives could not obtain a warrant.
Rice also says that Kricfalusi invited her to Los Angeles when she was 16 and “touched her genitals through her pajamas as she lay frozen.”
Kricfalusi’s attorney also told BuzzFeed that Kricfalusi was struggling with alcoholism at the time, and was later diagnosed with mental illnesses in 2008.
The reports of Kricfalusi’s alleged sexual misconduct and relationship with then-underaged Byrd come in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein allegations and the intensifying conversation around sexual assault and harassment.
Both women cited the recent change in the national conversation as a reason to now come forward.
Kricfalusi, now 62, has been heralded as a pioneer in the animation community, inspiring shows such as “SpongeBob Squarepants,” “Adventure Time” and “Rick and Morty.”
Kricfalusi was fired in 1992 from Nickelodeon after “The Ren & Stimpy Show’s” first year. The show ran for five years.