In the news: Neil Gaiman is accused of assault sexually threatening
Author denies claims made from two women who have been in relationships consensual with him.
Gaiman’s position is that he strongly denies any allegations of non-consensual sex with the women and adds New Zealand police did not take up his offer of assistance over one woman’s complaint in 2022, which, he says, reflects its lack of substance.
Then again, New Zealand police said it had made “number of efforts to talk to individuals who are key in the course of the investigation, and those efforts continue” and added it is “a number of elements to be considered in the case, such as where all parties are located”.
The allegations date back to the past two decades and involve teens who have come in contact with Gaiman – a 63-year-old best-selling creator of The Sandman, Good Omens as well as American Gods – as a nanny for his son and as a lover of his work.
listen to Tortoise’s four-part audio investigation
The bath is a good place to start. The bath
The women’s allegations were first reported in Tortoise’s podcast ‘Master: the allegations against Neil Gaiman’, released on Wednesday. The four-part series examines the women’s accounts of rough and degrading sex with the author, which they say was not always consensual.
The majority of instances of sexual assault take place in relationships, the majority of allegations remain unreported and, consequently, not prosecuted due to the assumption that alleged victims wouldn’t be engaged in a relationship accused attacker. Although the law states that consent is required for every and every sexual activity however, many assume that relationships provide ongoing consent.
Scarlett 23 years old claims she was assaulted by Gaiman physically assaulted her within a few hours of their first encounter in February 2022 during the bathtub at the New Zealand residence, where she was an nanny for his son. Tortoise knows that Gaiman’s version of events is that they merely “cuddled” or “made it out” in the bathtub and the fact that he obtained the consent to this. He believes that during the three-week relationship that ensued, they never participated in digital penetration that was consensual.
Scarlett asserts that during this normally mutually-concordant relationship, Gaiman engaged in a series of rough and sexually degrading acts with her. Tortoise has observed contemporaneous texts written notes and messages to people whom Scarlett was talking with at that time, which support the allegations of Scarlett.
Second woman K aged 18 at the time, first met Gaiman in person at his book launch at Sarasota, Florida in 2003. K began a relationship with him shortly after she was 20 at which point Gaiman had reached his 40s however, she claims that she was subjected to violent and painful sexual encounters that “she did not want or enjoyed.” In one incident, she claims Gaiman assaulted her despite being adamant that he should not because she suffered from an infection. Gaiman’s claim says that he has not engaged in any illicit conduct in the relationship with K and is shook by the allegations.
Tortoise knows that K’s claims are driven by her regret about their relationship. He also believes that Scarlett suffered from a medical condition that was which was associated with false memories during the time she had a relationship with him, a belief that isn’t proven with her records of medical treatment or medical past.
Gaiman is featured in Time magazine’s list of top 100 influential people in the world. He is credited with the introduction of comics to a worldwide public, he’s been dubbed “the most beloved writing talent in the world today”. His writing has been made into to Netflix as well as Amazon mini-series and Hollywood film, and West End shows. He was the speaker for the last year’s Tolkien Lecture at Oxford University and was chosen to host the new season of Queen’s Reading Room podcast.
Neil Gaiman is accused of assault on a sexual nature by two women with whom he had relationship consensually and is now the victim of a police investigation from New Zealand.