Neil Gaiman, a novelist and producer on The Sandman, American Gods, and Good Omens, has been accused of sexual assault with New Zealand police reportedly investigating the alleged crimes.
The Sandman. Writer Neil Gaiman on the set of The Sandman. Cr. Ekua King/Netflix © 2022
Tortoise Media reports that two women are accusing Gaiman of sexual assault. One is a former nanny to his child using the name Scarlett and the other is a fan of his writing going by K. According to the outlet, Gaiman denies the allegations of assault, but admits he fornicated with them.
Furthermore, the outlet reports that New Zealand police are engaged in an active investigation over the complaints and have made a “number of attempts to speak to key people as part of this investigation and those efforts remain ongoing.”
The Sandman. Writer Neil Gaiman on the set of The Sandman. Cr. Ekua King/Netflix © 2022
As for the specific claims, Scarlett, who is 23, alleges that Gaiman assaulted her within hours of the two first meeting in his home in New Zealand in February 2022. The assault allegedly took place in a bath. Gaiman claims no assault happened and the two “cuddled” and “made out.”
Tortoise Media also claims that Gaiman’s position is that the two “only ever engaged in consensual digital penetration.” The two reportedly had a sexual relationship that lasted around three weeks.
During this time, Scarlett claims “Gaiman engaged in rough and degrading penetrative sexual acts with her.” The outlet claims they’ve seen “contemporaneous messages, notes, and spoken to friends who Scarlett talked to at the time, which supports her allegations.”
Neil Gaiman in France. Photo Credit ActuaLitté, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
As for K, she alleges she engaged in a sexual relationship with Gaiman when she turned 20 around 2005 after previously meeting him at a book signing in Sarasota, Florida in 2003 when she was 18. Gaiman was in his mid 40s at the time.
The report notes that “she submitted to rough and painful sex that ‘she neither wanted nor enjoyed.'” It also notes that in one instance “Gaiman penetrated her despite her asking him not to as she was suffering from a painful infection.”
The report states that Gaiman denies he engaged in “any unlawful behaviour” and that he is “disturbed by her allegations.” Furthermore, the outlet claims that Gaiman “believes K’s allegations are motivated by her regret over their relationship and that Scarlett was suffering from a condition associated with false memories at the time of her relationship with him.”
The Sandman. Writer Neil Gaiman on the set of The Sandman. Cr. Ekua King/Netflix © 2022
The allegations are further documented in a four piece podcast series published by Tortoise Media.
What do you make of these accusations against Neil Gaiman?
