Neil Gaiman accused of sexual assault

[WandsOut]

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

Story still unfolding in the news

Gaiman is Natashya's god-father.
I'm tempted to keep a close eye on Tori Amos' response - she was such a lifeline for me as a teen (I think possibly life saving, definitely soul saving). But maybe it's wisest to let it go, there will be a huge temptation for her to save face and stick with the power.

Isn't it rubbish though how the lousy actions of a bad man brings public scrutiny to female friends and associates who as far as we know had nothing to do with his private life?
Somebody pin down his male friends and admirers for their hot takes too.

I'm sorry if that sounds like I'm attacking you @LilyBartsHatShop , I hope your life is better now.

She was a huge lifeline for me as a teen, too. I was aware of her friendship with Gaiman so tried to read one of his books off the back of that, but put it down after a couple of pages as it wasn't my thing at all. I had no idea about the rumours until now and am astonished she has continued to be such good friends with him while simultaneously being so vocal about supporting victims of rape and sexual abuse.

Well, as I've pointed out, TA co-founded RAINN and claims to be one of his best friends, so yeah, I'm going to scrutinise that. I have no idea who his other friends and associates are but if I did, I wouldn't be thinking of them particularly highly either.

Quote tweet yesterday from Amy Hamm of Gaiman in 2018 posting his support for #metoo

https://x.com/preta_6/status/1808891448529727866?s=46&t=SPorwN-mokktL467rcZ57g

Amy: Women need to realize that the men who say this stuff are, well, men like Neil Gaiman.

Quoting this:

Neil: On a day like today it’s worth saying, I believe survivors. Men must not close our eyes and minds to what happens to women in this world. We must fight, alongside them, for them to be believed, at the ballot box & with art & by listening, and change this world for the better.

https://x.com/neilhimself/status/1045719624636149760?s=46&t=SPorwN-mokktL467rcZ57g

No worries @jacksonlambsregulardisorder. I am in a much better place now. And your post has made me realise I hold women to much higher standards than men. I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or not - I'll have to sit with it and think.

I tried to read American Gods but some nice middle-class sci-fi nerd trying to write something hard-bitten and James Ellroy-esque was so cringeworthy that I couldn't continue.

He's always come across as one of those celebrities who purports to be a feminist, socialist and environmentalist but doesn't live by those values.

IIRC, wasn't there at least one Harvey Weinstein incident where a woman going for a nannying job was confronted by Weinstein in his underwear?

A few of the men on Twitter who are saying “but it was consensual etc.” just don’t get it do they?

As someone up thread said, decent GOOD men (of which there are many) just wouldn’t put a young 20 something women in that position re: the bath literally hours after meeting them. They just wouldn’t. They would understand boundaries and decency and duty of care.

I mean who the fuck would do what he did unless they were a prize creep/sex pest/misogynist?

I've read a couple of his things and always found them a bit meh, maybe because I know a lot of the classic novels that he lifts from. Lots of ideas but the execution just doesn't do it for me.

I think he's gained a lot of traction by the image he's cultivated. People want to believe he's such a nice guy, not just because they like his books but maybe more because of how he comes across in interviews. Such a thoughtful sounding man must really be thoughtful... like how people identify actors' personalities with the kind of roles they play.

My main issue with him is that he's a Scientologist. And by that I mean that he literally grew up in a cult. His dad was part of their top leadership and his sisters are still members. Neil lets it be known that he's no longer a member, and he can't help his upbringing, but he's at least a fellow traveller who supports their causes. Anyone with his background is bound to have some fucked up values.

So yeah, huge scepticism when he strikes a moral pose.

Getting a new young female employee to join him for a bath on her first day does come across a bit like a cult set up, really.

Interesting, I didnt know that. Ironically I've been watching recent ex cult member interviews on Andrew Gold and drawing all the obvious parallels to Tra.
I've been fully aware of their power dynamics since the 80s, they tried to get me too.
There is a great book written in the 90s called The Guru Papers - Masks of Authoritarian Power that extends way beyond obvious targets and adresses the psychological dynamics behind it, covering everything from the exhorts to'unconditional love' to 12 Step programmes, Buddhism monotheistic religion politics, and how we give our power away unintentionally.
Its very apt for women even though not directed specifically at us.

There's a whole history there that Neil could get a great novel out of... if he were prepared to face up to it, which he isn't.

They are eating themselves over there.

I'm just on the first episode now, my feeling is that NG was counting on his victim being too confused & embarrassed to speak out.

He might get away with it, because, after all, he's getting a lot of support on social media. But here's the problem, the most strident support he's getting is from scum-of-the-earth MRA types.

If he'd be interested, I think he's on firm ground to get Andrew Tate to speak out strongly on his behalf.

Yes I remember the nanny talking about that happening with Harvey Weinstein.

Although they are turning on him swiftly in various NG related forums.
Kink fans are saying he has done BDSM badly (no safe words etc)

Incells are saying the women asked for it.

TRAs are blaming JK Rowling obviously because Rachel Johnston understands biology.

NME have approached his people for comment, Telegraph has it, a couple of gay websites have it - so it's slowly gaining momentum.

I've seen a couple of posts talking about a SFF (Science Fiction and Fantasy) whisper network where he's been implied for a while.

And rumours of Amanda's complicity/repulsion abound.

If you compare it to how Warren Ellis' career ended, this is worse because how WE behaved was sleazy but I don't believe there's any suggestion that it wasn't consensual.

I believe the stories about Ellis because they're very consistent, and nobody comes out of them looking good. Everyone was using everyone else.

NG is a different matter. Ellis is an old man in poor health, the stories about him are 20 years in the past, and importantly, nobody ever asked him for his thoughts on public morality. NG frequently gets on his high horse about something. Maybe this should be a red flag: a man who just wants to get laid will go about it quietly, but if a man beats his chest about what a great feminist ally he is, run like hell.

Thank you for your posts, StainlessSteelMouse
Fascinating.

I’m a Gaiman fan, this makes me sad but it doesn’t feel shocking. I agree women should run a mile from Feminist Men.

I don't know much about him but I'm shocked by what I've seen in another internet space I frequent. Basically it's all 'we should believe women but not these women'. Apparently because:

1. it's a 'terf' podcast
2. Rachel Johnson is Boris's sister and we don't like Boris
3. some feminists think BDSM is never consensual
4. the women probably consented at the time and were later coerced into saying they didn't by evil terf/conservative/feminist women.

This is not from MRAs. This is from left-wing 'sex-positive' women. Awful.

@TemporalMechanic Fucking hell.

Very sorry but not at all surprised to hear all this. I saw Amanda Palmer perform a couple of times and came away both times feeling thrilled but troubled. Assumed it was something uptight in me that experienced her as uncomfortably vulnerable.

The sex-positivity brigade were very, very keen on her and it was only later when I started thinking more critically about the whole thing, that I began to see what was going on between the written lines. Sex-positivity, BDSM, the open marriage where he played while she raised the kids — it was all there for everyone to see, and clearly some of us did, but many didn't.

Michael Sheen was a great pal of his too. https://www.tumblr.com/rumata-est/186044110162/michael-sheen-talks-about-his-first-meeting-with

I spent my teens in Australia, and I had to stop listening to the podcast half way through. The 'nanny' reminded me so much of girls I knew. Keen to please, vulnerable, trusting of older 'cool' adults, poor relationship with family. Unreliable (and therefore less likely to be believed).

She said, Amanda used to walk around naked, prior to her ever meeting NG. It feels like she was groomed.

NG seems to be an abusive creep.

She wasn't really a Nanny, just a vulnerable girl they took to Gaiman's home.

The thing that strikes me is that even if his protestations of consent are true, the spectacular abuse of power and judgement in having sexual intimacy with a much younger employee (within hours of meeting) and an 18 year old fan is telling. How on earth could such a self proclaimed "good guy" have thought either scenario was acceptable?
He's shown himself, at best, to be just another man with no sense of self control when he thinks he might get some dick action. Gross.