Neil Gaiman accused of sexual assault

[WandsOut]

www.yahoo.com/entertainment/sandman-writer-neil-gaiman-denies-142813982.html

Story still unfolding in the news

Gah! Sorry @taylorswift1989I should've scrolled back a bit further.

We're going to make it a month at least, right?

The longer it goes on, the worse it looks

Maybe he's taking his time to think of a narrative. Neil has a complicated relationship with the line between truth and storytelling.

Wow, creepy family.

Pretty sure he thinks he's going to be able to wait it out.

Sadly, he may be right.

Julie Bindel mentioned in her post about him that there were other complainants who'd come forward since the podcast - not sure of the validity of this, but I sincerely hope that is the case.

That was my comment Biscuity, but as pp have already explained in response, it has been notable on social media there are people out there trying to completely disregard the content of the podcast because it is Rachel Johnson's work.

There's been attempts to discredit the podcast as 'anti trans' simply because of her involvement, not what it is about.

Also there are those who were trying to falsely link it to a Murdoch outlet when it is not, or who think who she is related to should invalidate the investigation as well.

All these key words used to try and stop people from listening for themselves.

Holy shit

I don't see him being able to wait it out. As soon as he reappears on s.m. people are going to ask him about it. What's he going to say? Even if he can persuade the press not to mention it, he will surely be asked by his fans/former fans. As soon as he says anything, that's a public statement and will be newsworthy.

And so on...

I know nothing I'm saying here is brand new, and in fact has been said more eloquently elsewhere in the thread.

But mainly this whole thing has made me sad. Because it's just another light being shone on the ingrained, raging misogyny of our society.

People see no problem at all in shouting down and trying to take away the right to speak of a female author who dares express a controversial (not actually controversial) opinion. Yet refuse to speak up against a man who is at best a sexual predator and at worst a violent and dangerous rapist.

It just highlights the deeply held beliefs of so many people. That men are more important than women. That men's wants are more important than women's rights.

I tend to like NG's books but was disappointed by The Ocean. I think I need to reread it now I've read that column about it, just to see everything I've missed. Fortunately I already own it so he won't gain anything. But it now feels like a task to read rather than future enjoyment.

And so on...

@notathenabutcassandra I'm genuinely amazed that Gaiman is not being investigated by journalists or raked over the coals for his behaviour by the great and good. What happened to journalistic integrity and ethics? What happened to taking victims seriously and properly investigating their claims?

I agree @UtopiaPlanitia

it's because it's all a bit difficult (if you start from the view that intentionally injuring people during sex can ever be OK. if you start from my, opposite view, the man should be in a police interview room as we speak).

after all, she consented, in writing. most of the population don't understand what it's like to be an essentially homeless young woman who had been starved of love by the sounds of things, and how vulnerable that can make you, especially to a manipulative old man.

I also don't discount the scientology thing. he clearly still has strong financial and family links to the organisation, and they are seriously unhinged when dealing with the press.

Yes, he appears to be very well-practiced in this kind of oh-so-reasonable manipulation, clearly learned from his father and his scientology tactics. What a creepy old man.

And agreed, intentionally injuring people during sex is never okay. Even if the person allegedly "consented" (aka you manipulated someone with a lot less power than you to "consent"). Morally reprehensible.

Apparently another woman, Claire, has come forward with allegations about Gaiman. She was 22, he was 52. Tortoise say they will report on it soon.

x.com/pcaruanagalizia/status/1817671313974067463

the pebbles that signal the avalanche are starting to fall I think

Oh wow, poor Claire. I'll listen to that podcast later.

I think that the reasons it's not being reported more widely are partly what Bernard says, partly the scientology thing, partly the PR work he's doing behind the scenes to suppress things, but mainly because he's a woke darling of the left - and the left wing press and bbc don't want to take him down. They look at the story and dismiss the testimony of the women because they think NG is a hero. It's like when Russell Brand was accused, and a section of the right wing press assumed that it was just a psy op designed to take him down because he's a truth teller or whatever. Just the left wing version of that.

But the more women who speak up, the harder it's going to be to keep this all on the quiet. It must feel like a game of whack-a-mole at the moment - as soon as he smashes down one story, another one pops up somewhere else.

100%

I suspect the answer lies in the amount of money and legal resource he’s throwing at it - these guys… edendalestrategies.com

In the UK 'consent' to injury is no longer a defence.

Thanks, that is what I thought. Not sure about NZ though.

I get the feeling that most people don't really get the rules around consent and the nuance involved. I remember reading a thread from a woman who'd started the process of performing oral sex on her boyfriend while he was asleep and was wondering if she'd crossed a line. There were 10 pages or so of replies saying she did nothing wrong, he's her boyfriend ffs, any man would be delighted. There were a few posters pointing out that somebody cannot give consent while they are asleep, but they were shouted down and called ridiculous, 'me and DH love sleepy sex' etc. What kind of precedent does this set for a woman whose boyfriend rapes her in her sleep. It really upset me.

👆👍 You can't consent if you are sleeping.

I remember a Dave Gorman's PowerPoint (or was it Modern Life Is Goodish?) where he'd stumbled across a book about sleep rape called "Use Her In Her Sleep" on Amazon and was wondering about the kind of person who'd buy such a book and his punchline was "don't use people in their sleep, it's not very nice", demonstrating that a man can tell a rape joke that punches up and is funny.

If a comedian, a practitioner of a trade not noted for being politically correct, can understand this, surely everyone else can?