The writer has denied the accusations.
Neil Gaiman is being accused of sexual assault and abuse by several different women. In a report first published by Tortoise Media on July 3, 2024, it was revealed that the writer, known for works like Sandman, 1602, Coraline, and countless others, has been accused by two women of inappropriate and nonconsensual sexual behavior. The accusations span nearly four decades, dating as far back as 1986 and as recent as 2022.
Scarlett and K were the first two woman to come forward, with their accusations discussed on Tortoise's "Master: the allegations against Neil Gaiman" podcast episode. Scarlett alleges that in 2022, Gaiman became sexual with her within several hours of meeting him to be a nanny for his children, while K asserts that in 2003, Gaiman's relationship with her involved sexual acts she "neither wanted nor enjoyed." Both women claim that their relationships with Gaiman were consensual, but revolved around frequent "rough and degrading sex" with the author.
On August 1, 2o24, two more women have come forward to accuse Gaiman of sexual misconduct. Caroline Wallner, a mother of three, lived on property owned by Gaiman in New York from 2014 to 2021. After 2017, when Wallner and her husband divorced, Gaiman is alleged to have coerced Wallner for oral sex in exchange for allowing her and her daughters to continue to live on the property. She claims that Gaiman asked her to call him "master" and would even choke her during these exchanges. Eventually, Wallner signed an NDA and was paid $275,000.
Julia Hobsbawm was a book publicist who met Gaiman in London in 1986. She alleges that in her home, Gaimain made "an aggressive, unwanted pass" at her, where he forced his tongue into her mouth and shoved her onto a sofa. She pushed him off and ended his advances, but now lives with regret that she hadn't spoken about the incident back when it happened. Gaiman has denied all of these allegations and offered various defenses for them, stating that any sexual dalliances and interactions were consensual, claims of sexual misconduct to be mischaracterizations of the actual events, or in the case of Hobsbawm, the result of "a young man misreading a situation."
Since these allegations became public, Gaiman has canceled numerous appearances. Notably, mainstream comic book news outlets had been initially reticent in reporting on the issue, with prominent YouTube channels like Thinking Critical and others instead being among the first to comment on these accusations back in July. It is unclear what will happen to Gaiman, if anything, as he continues to deny the allegations. At this point, these are only accusations. We'll continue to report on this story as we learn more.
Source: Tortoise Media
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