Two women have come forward to accuse best-selling English author Neil Gaiman, known for comic book series such The Sandman (1989 to 1996) and novels like The Graveyard Book (2008), of sexual assault.
British news outfit Tortoise Media first reported the allegations in a four-part podcast titled Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman and a news story, both published on July 3. The allegations span two decades and involve women who were in consensual relationships with the 63-year-old author.
According to Tortoise Media, one of the women is known as Scarlett, a 23-year-old who says she worked as a nanny to Gaiman’s son. She alleges that Gaiman sexually assaulted her within hours of their first meeting in February 2022 in a bath at his New Zealand residence, where she worked.
Gaiman has an eight-year-old son with his former wife, American singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer, and three other adult children from a previous marriage. Palmer and Gaiman announced their divorce in 2022.
Scarlett alleges that she and Gaiman later had a relationship, where he engaged in “rough and degrading” sexual acts with her.
Tortoise Media added that the author is the subject of a police complaint in New Zealand.
Media outlet The New Zealand Herald contacted the police on July 4, but they declined to confirm whether they had received a complaint about Gaiman due to privacy laws.
Another woman who alleges Gaiman assaulted her is known only as K. She was a fan who met Gaiman at a book signing in Sarasota, Florida, in the United States in 2003 when she was 18. After she turned 20, she developed a romantic relationship with Gaiman, who was in his 40s at the time.
She says that Gaiman engaged her in rough and painful sex that “she neither wanted nor enjoyed”, and claims that there was an instance when he penetrated her despite her refusing, as she was suffering from a painful infection.
Gaiman denies any allegations of non-consensual sex.
According to Tortoise Media, Gaiman believes K’s allegations are motivated by her regret over their relationship, while Scarlett was suffering from a condition associated with false memories at the time of their involvement.
Gaiman is a beloved author in popular culture and was one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world in 2023. The Sandman has been adapted into a successful Netflix television series of the same name (2022 to present).
His novel Good Omens (1990), written with the late English writer Terry Pratchett, has also been adapted into a television series of the same name (2019 to present), which is available on Prime Video. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
