Content warning: This article contains references to sexual assault, abuse, rape, grooming, sadomasochism, corporal punishment, and child endangerment. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
On Monday, New York magazine’s pop culture website Vulture published There is No Safe Word, an extensive report about the allegations of sexual misconduct by writer Neil Gaiman. The lengthy read, by Lila Shapiro, is based on interviews with four (of the five) women whose claims of sexual assault and abuse were previously reported by British outlet Tortoise Media last summer, as well as the podcast Am I Broken: Survivor Stories, “along with four others whose stories share elements with theirs,” friends of Gaiman’s ex-wife Amanda Palmer, and more.
It contains photos from the women, as well as screenshots of texts and video messages. The four women who previously spoke out and are identified in the article are:
- Scarlett Pavlovich, 24, a New Zealander who worked as a nanny for Gaiman and Palmer in 2022. She claims Gaiman raped her when they first met, and over the next three weeks, subjected her to degrading sex, frequently without her consent; she also says they had sex while his son (then about 7) was nearby. After he left New Zealand, Pavlovich’s friends persuaded her she had been raped, causing her and Gaiman to become troubled, and his marriage counselor, Wayne Muller, to step in. She settled for an NDA, and continued to look after his son, but reported him to the police for sexual assault in January 2023. The investigators told Pavlovich the case would be difficult to pursue, as she said she initially consented to the relationship, while Gaiman provided a written statement, and Palmer declined to be interviewed.
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Caroline Wallner, 54, a potter who lived on Gaiman’s property in Woodstock, New York, with her husband, until their divorce in 2017. She alleges Gaiman assaulted her in December 2018, and effectively blackmailed her into a two-year relationship, as she feared he would ask her and her children to leave; she also says Gaiman behaved inappropriately with her while babysitting his son (who was 4 at the time). It ended when he moved away, and she decided to ignore his messages. In 2021, Gaiman asked her to leave, and the two eventually settled on an NDA for $300,000.
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Kendra Stout, 39, an American fan whom Gaiman began a relationship with in 2003, when she was 18. After speaking to Tortoise, she filed a police report, claiming he raped her during a trip to the Cornish countryside in 2007. She states he penetrated her, despite telling him she had developed a urinary tract infection that would make it painful.
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Katherine Kendall, 34, another American fan who met Gaiman in 2012, when she was 22. After a ten-month, “flirtatious friendship,” she claims he unsuccessfully tried to seduce her on his tour bus, and later apologized by giving her $60,000 for therapy.
The new allegations come from “Brenda” (a pseudonym), who claims Gaiman behaved similarly when they slept together in 2002, giving up any pretense of being interested in her to indulge in the fantasy of being her “master”; and “Rachel,” a fan and former partner of Palmer, who was 20 when she dated her and then Gaiman in 2012. The latter says there was never a “blatant rupture of consent,” but that he always wanted her to do things that hurt and scared her.
Commonalities across the women’s accounts include Gaiman insisting on being called “master” during sex, and emphasizing complete and total domination of his partners. One particularly disturbing allegation Pavlovich makes is that a week into her time with him, Gaiman’s young son began referring to her as a “slave,” and also asked her to call him “master.” Gaiman was reportedly amused, although he would remind the boy she wasn’t a slave, and that he mustn’t call her one.
The nature of Gaiman and Palmer’s marriage is discussed; it is stated that in 2014, when they were expecting their son, that the couple had agreed to close their open marriage, but Gaiman admitted he had an affair with a fan in her early twenties, taking her virginity, and leaving her upset as a result. His relationships with Rachel, which continued after this, and Wallner were also instances of infidelity, as he had told her he wanted to change his ways; Palmer’s friends say she filed for divorce because Rachel confessed to the affair.
Furthermore, the article goes into Gaiman’s Scientologist upbringing, and reports that his parents, David and Sheila, did subject him to the Church’s disciplinary methods when he was a child; the source states David once punished him by trying to drown him in a cold bath, seemingly inspiring a similar incident in his novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane.
Gaiman, who had been radio silent on social media since the allegations first broke, and declined multiple requests for comment on the article, responded with his first personal statement on the matter on his blog. In it, he states he has looked back on his relationships, and admits “I was obviously careless with people’s hearts and feelings, and that’s something that I really, deeply regret.” At the same time, he flat out states, “I don’t accept there was any abuse. To repeat, I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone.”
He concludes saying, “Some of the horrible stories now being told simply never happened, while others have been so distorted from what actually took place that they bear no relationship to reality. I am prepared to take responsibility for any missteps I made. I’m not willing to turn my back on the truth, and I can’t accept being described as someone I am not, and cannot and will not admit to doing things I didn’t do.”
Gaiman’s legal representatives responded in the meantime. In particular, they called Pavlovich’s account of sex in the hotel room while his son was present “false, not to mention, deplorable,” and denied Wallner’s similar story, while claiming she initiated her relationship with him. They state his relationships were “entirely consensual,” and accuse Palmer of being a “major force” for pushing these claims, as they are currently in the midst of divorce proceedings.
Since Tortoise Media‘s report, Gaiman has stepped down as showrunner of Good Omens season 3 (which is now being truncated into a single 90 min. special), and pre-production on a film version of The Graveyard Book at Disney has been halted; it also prompted a response from the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency), who said they would be “assessing [Tortoise‘s] detailed reporting” to determine his continued status as a goodwill ambassador.
Dead Boy Detectives, the spin-off of Netflix’s adaptation of The Sandman, was cancelled after one season, although it is unknown if it had anything to do with the allegations, while filming on season two of The Sandman has concluded. Both The Sandman season two and Prime Video’s Anansi Boys miniseries are both set to premiere this year, with Netflix and Amazon declining comment to multiple outlets on the allegations at the time of writing.
None of Gaiman’s publishers, comics and prose, have commented on the accusations, or announced any actions, but with many fans publicly pledging to never read a Gaiman book again, this will obviously impact that side of things as well.
Good to see this finally covered. Still a mystery why it took seven months to do so, but it’s something.
I have no doubt that New York magazine report was carefully vetted by lawyers. That can take a while.
I’m honestly curious, why start covering the story now?
So now that the mainstream media is reporting on this, The Beat feels obliged to do so as well? We need an explanation as to why you have been silent on this for the last six months.
Kind of funny how you guys were prompt to publish stories about Piskor and Ellis but waited like 6 or 7 months for this turd. And only after he issues a public denial lol
I can’t speak to what happened several months ago as I wasn’t with The Beat at the time. For the record though, a version of this article was pending review before we saw Gaiman had finally written a statement, delaying it further: the original title was ‘More Neil Gaiman allegations emerge in New York magazine exposé.’
Thanks for the reply Christopher. It’d still be nice to hear from the editors on why it took half a year to acknowledge this news when in the past The Beat was quick to report allegations relating to other industry figures.
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