Rob McElhenney's douchery is pretty well documented, even if subjectively.
R11, I don't know for sure of course; Rob McElhenney may be the most awesome, generous Human being to ever walk the planet and I could be completely unfair in my framing of him, I don't know for sure. All of us form judgments of people that aren't foolproof in their accuracy or fairness. All I know is what I've read and from watching and reading interviews with him. All around, I'm sure he's not a monster. But he's always clearly been ambitious and a shark, to the point of dumping long tern girlfriends and collaborators when the network that picked up his show wanted him to be brutal.
I don't have time to find the article now but it's been posted here before, you can do a search; but not long ago, a woman he used to be with was part of Rob's original inside circle which included Charlie Day and the guy who plays Dennis. They were all new to Hollywood, trying to make it as actors or writers, etc. Rob, with the two guys and his girlfriend, came up with "Sunny". They worked it out, produced a couple of episodes on like a $200 budget, and submitted it around. It was picked up and almost cancelled at one point I think. For whatever reason, someone with the network or production company who agreed to take it on didn't want Rob's girlfriend, who again was among the original four friends and played the Sweet Dee character in the first episodes/pilot, (which I think were never aired or aired with the replacement actress. The show is originally based on the friendship of the four of them. So, Rob tosses the girlfriend off the show and breaks up with her. They find Kaitlan Olson, who was apparently known to someone at the network, had been in The Groundlings so probably had a strong network of inside people helping to promote her, and the rest is history. Olson favors the original "Sweet Dee", and, AMAZINGLY, Rob McElhenney ends up dating and marrying her. (There were rumors she had some kind of pull with the network or whoever it was funding or producing the show, so, Rob latched-on to the opportunity.).
Anyway, there's an article out there where the original girlfriend and "Sweet Dee" actress gave an interview. She didn't come across as remotely bitter, but just kind of matter-of-factly talked about the whole thing because people had wanted to know the details for years. Apparently, McElhenney dumped her after the network didn't want her involved in the show, and he never reached out or spoke to her again. Never offered her work, etc.. She eventually gave up her hopes of acting and I think is now married now. Another juicy tidbit everyone now knows is that McElhenney refused, apparently multiple times, the idea of bringing on a character played by somebody with a bigger name, (who ended up being Danny Divito). They went back and forth until the network just came out and said, "Do it, or we're canceling the show" so, POOF! Danny Divito is on the show and we now get a minimum of 15-minutes of him each episode, digging in his toes or spewing food out of his mouth, eating eggs, firing guns and shouting every line he's given. The guy can be funny, but a tiny grain of him goes a very, very long way. But, somehow, he seems to control a big part of that series and if you've ever noticed, there's never an episode where he doesn't feature prominently.
Anyway, between that, and taking a little walk through McElhenney's Instagram account and reading some interviews with him, it's just not hard, for me at least, to realize he's a douche. Very typical of Hollywood, nothing out of the ordinary. Just a regular, massive Hollywood douche who would likely push his mother off a cliff if it meant obtaining fame and fortune.
