Neil Gaiman Breaks Silence on ‘Horrible’ Sexual Abuse Claims
Author Neil Gaiman, 64, has hit back at allegations of sexual abuse made against him over the last nine months, saying he has “never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever.”
In a statement released on Gaiman’s website, the acclaimed author of The Sandman, Coraline and American Gods, said after reading the accounts of nine women who have come forward with allegations of sexual abuse, “there are moments I half-recognise and moments I don’t.”
Four women came forward over the summer on the podcast Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman. Another woman came forward on the podcast Am I Broken: Survivor Stories. Four more gave their graphic accounts in a New York Magazine cover story on Monday.
Gaiman’s ex-wife Amanda Palmer allegedly told one accuser that fourteen other women had shared similar stories with her.
In the statement, Gaiman says he watched the public allegations unfold over months “with dismay.” He continued, saying, “I’ve stayed quiet until now,” despite having “strenuously” denied the allegations when they came out in July. He continues to deny the allegation of rape, saying he “never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity.”
Gaiman does not deny having sexual relations with the women involved. He says he reviewed text messages with those women and that those “messages read now as they did when I received them—of two people enjoying entirely consensual sexual relationships.”
The first two women to appear on Master in July 2024 also acknowledged they were in consensual relationships with Gaiman when he allegedly sexually abused them.
The first accuser and Gaiman’s former nanny, Scarlett Pavlovich, says Gaiman “lured me... into his psychological labyrinth,” a nod to Gaiman’s ability to entrance people with elaborate fictions.
While Gaiman says all sexual activity was consensual, a number of the women say they felt manipulated and ensnared by him.
They provided graphic details about the interactions like passing out after a--l sex and engaging in intercourse in front of his child.
He said, “Like most of us, I’m learning, and I’m trying to do the work needed, and I know that that’s not an overnight process.”
He continued, saying he does not “accept there was any abuse,” and called his accusers’ recollections of the incidents “distorted” and including things that “did not happen.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to Neil Gaiman for comment on this story but did not hear back at the time of publication.
