Neil Gaiman Denies Sexual Assault Allegations, Says He Has Never Had Non-Consensual Sex ‘Ever’
Fantasy author and TV-show executive producer Neil Gaiman vehemently denies sexual assault allegations made against him in a recent magazine story and podcast.
In Tortoise Media’s Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman podcast, released in early July, Gaiman was accused by a 23-year-old woman of sexually assaulting her within hours of their first meeting at his New Zealand residence, where she worked as nanny to his child. (Gaiman has said that only consensual digital penetration occurred during their three-week relationship.) A second accuser says she was 18 when she met Gaiman at a book signing, then began a relationship with him at age 20, during which she submitted to “rough and painful” sex that “she neither wanted nor enjoyed.” (Gaiman denied any unlawful behavior.)
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A story New York Magazine published Monday offered more detail on the accusations made against Gaiman; of the eight women New York spoke with, four had taken part in the Tortoise podcast. A throughline in the accusers’ stories was that Gaiman allegedly made them engage in BDSM and rough sex without their consent.
Gaiman had not commented on the allegations directly until posting to his blog Tuesday.
“Over the past many months, I have watched the stories circulating the internet about me with horror and dismay. I’ve stayed quiet until now, both out of respect for the people who were sharing their stories and out of a desire not to draw even more attention to a lot of misinformation,” he wrote. “I’ve always tried to be a private person, and felt increasingly that social media was the wrong place to talk about important personal matters. I’ve now reached the point where I feel that I should say something.”
He said that the New York piece includes “moments I half-recognise and moments I don’t, descriptions of things that happened sitting beside things that emphatically did not happen” and added “I’m far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever.”
Gaiman discussed how he reviewed the messages cited in the stories and how he recalls the relationships in question as seeming “positive and happy on both sides.” He also noted “that I could have and should have done so much better. I was emotionally unavailable while being sexually available, self-focused and not as thoughtful as I could or should have been. I was obviously careless with people’s hearts and feelings, and that’s something that I really, deeply regret. It was selfish of me. I was caught up in my own story and I ignored other people’s.”
However, he wrote, “as I reflect on my past — and as I re-review everything that actually happened as opposed to what is being alleged — I don’t accept there was any abuse. To repeat, I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone.
“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 is an executive producer on Season 2 of Netflix’s The Sandman, though he was conspicuously absent from a preview video for the new season. The third and final season of his Prime Video series Good Omens will consist of just one, 90-minute episode; though Gaiman contributed to the episode’s writing, he will not work on the production. Prime Video’s adaptation of his Anansi Boys also remains in the works.
Read Gaiman’s full statement below:
Over the past many months, I have watched the stories circulating the internet about me with horror and dismay. I’ve stayed quiet until now, both out of respect for the people who were sharing their stories and out of a desire not to draw even more attention to a lot of misinformation. I’ve always tried to be a private person, and felt increasingly that social media was the wrong place to talk about important personal matters. I’ve now reached the point where I feel that I should say something.
As I read through this latest collection of accounts, there are moments I half-recognise and moments I don’t, descriptions of things that happened sitting beside things that emphatically did not happen. I’m far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever.
I went back to read the messages I exchanged with the women around and following the occasions that have subsequently been reported as being abusive. These messages read now as they did when I received them – of two people enjoying entirely consensual sexual relationships and wanting to see one another again. At the time I was in those relationships, they seemed positive and happy on both sides.
And I also realise, looking through them, years later, that I could have and should have done so much better. I was emotionally unavailable while being sexually available, self-focused and not as thoughtful as I could or should have been. I was obviously careless with people’s hearts and feelings, and that’s something that I really, deeply regret. It was selfish of me. I was caught up in my own story and I ignored other people’s.
I’ve spent some months now taking a long, hard look at who I have been and how I have made people feel.
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. I hope that with the help of good people, I’ll continue to grow. I understand that not everyone will believe me or even care what I say but I’ll be doing the work anyway, for myself, my family and the people I love. I will be doing my very best to deserve their trust, as well as the trust of my readers.
At the same time, as I reflect on my past – and as I re-review everything that actually happened as opposed to what is being alleged – I don’t accept there was any abuse. To repeat, I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone.
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.
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