I think he spent the mid 2010s hitting up all the nerdy bullshit of the era to namedrop him or give him a cameo. If that was an endeavor on his end to get acclaim with that kind of fandom, it worked. He is adept at hype, so long as the audience are suckers/ fools/evil

Its outstanding how you can pinpoint the exact moment Rick & Morty lost its zeitgeist status. Im not here to discuss its merits or if it was or is good, im just saying when its social stock peaked.