Neil Gaiman accused of sexual assault

[WandsOut]

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

Story still unfolding in the news

I've concluded that, for a lot of men in the public eye, being a male feminist is like the old practice of buying indulgences.

Absolutely brilliant insight! Yes, this is exactly it. Like planting a tree before you fly (or pretending that you've done so by bunging a few quid to some internet firm that says they will).

I mean, he'd be stupid not to employ some kind of PR/Crisis management help in his situation. Even if he was completely innocent, he would need this. So while I am 100% sure he's a predator and abuser, I'm not sure him hiring some PR help is damning evidence against him.

I've always thought he was an overrated slimy fucker.
i used to listen to AP, knowing ahe was quite "out there" in her personal life-but lyrically, I sort of liked her self acknowledged messiness, thought it was quite an honest and refreshing female point of view (a bit like Tori Amos or Fiona Apple, but more visceral)... but when she started writing pro-porn paeaens on fb I couldn't follow her any more. I also thought her outré songs e.g. "Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner" were actually centring the victim, but the idea that she was acting as some sort of Ghislane-esque madam by grooming these younger women makes that all that appear very unsavoury in retrospect.

The NG nanny/younger women is reminding me a lot of Marylin Manson and Evan Rachel Wood.

I also thought her outré songs e.g. "Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner" were actually centring the victim,

So did I. I listened to the Dresden Dolls a lot when they came out. I assumed songs like ‘Slide’, ‘Missed Me’ and ‘Half Jack’ were written from the perspective of the victim but now I’m not sure what to think

@WandsOut

archive.md/cyoXt

Reported in The Bookseller (behind paywall)

@taylorswift1989 Oh I def agree, he'd be crazy not to get some damage limitation on board - it's the level of algorithm suppression that's clearly been going on that smacks of trying to manipulate the truth coming out. Search engines that were only showing a select few media outlets reporting on it a few days ago now have more visibility across multiple outlets - but when you look at the date of the features, they actually come out days ago. Which indicates they were 'hidden' through clever and costly media manipulation.

Ooh @WandsOut I haven't heard those rumours, that's interesting. Where did you read that? I mean, it's unsurprising - it would be hugely unlikely that these were isolated incidents.

It will stick, at least reputationally. It sounds like he's into rough sex with young women, where consent is blurred in some sort of dom/sub fantasy. Perhaps not surprising that a writer of violent fantasy enjoys acting that out in the bedroom with younger female partners. As ever, brave of the women to speak out. It protects other women who can see him now.

I'm listening to episode one. what a sordid fucking sad sack Neil Gaiman comes across as.

sexually assaulting a young woman pretty much as soon as she enters his house is so obviously about power and ownership. And even imagining that a young woman would want this displays such a total lack of insight and empathy. urgh

as pps have stated it seems plausible that Gaiman's wife got Scarlett to the house knowing what might happen to her. man alive

I know nothing of these accusations, and dislike the one book I've read of his (which is irrelevant I suppose).

But the covid incident was just inexcusable, so I don't have a very high opinion of him. "The author left his wife, singer Amanda Palmer, and their four-year-old son in Auckland so he could "isolate" at his island retreat (Skye)... His trip... involved flying via the US and driving from London".

Outrageous.

Sounds a bit like his wife is acting as his Ghislaine Maxwell?

I remember seeing a documentary on fame where Gary Numan was interviewed, he's autistic and said something about how he couldn't understand all these female fans throwing themselves at him and letting him do whatever he wanted to them, just because he was famous, and that it took a while for him to realise it wasn't ok or appropriate. He now seemed to understand it was wrong with the age gaps and power indifference that consent wasn't as black and white as his young ASD self thought. I wonder if Neil Gaiman never made that leap.

I reckon the only reason AFP hasn't slammed him over all this is because she knows she at least appears to be complicit.

But the reason she isn't defending him is because she knows he is guilty.

She's waiting to see how things fall out and how she can come out of this looking like a victim rather than an accomplice.

Apart from everything else, the fact that NOBODY paid Scarlett for her work is appalling.

He's good friends with David Tennant.

Isn't it interesting how TRAs are trying to make it all about them. I wonder if they would be doing the same if the victims were men they really do fucking hate women, don't they.

I've listened to the 4 Tortoise podcasts - they are not easy listening.

I don't know how much we can say on here about the conclusions I draw from those podcasts. It's not good - one commentator mentions grooming. And there seems like a fuzziness (to put it as gently and non-slanderous as possible) over consent.

The Tortoise podcasts are really worth listening to for a more general view of the potential messiness of sexual relationships and consent.

But Gaiman is off my list of ever buying anything he writes.

I notice AP seeme to have dleeted her twitter history beyong Nov 22 i.e the period covering the relationship with Scarlett. A period when i disrinctly remember her tweeting about Scarlett and what a great friend and help she had been while she was stuck in NZ. Interesting.

I wonder if NG will do a Weinstein and start appearing with a walking frame in an effort to paint himself as the victim?

I deleted my old
Twitter account a few years ago, but in my time there I got a couple of very inappropriate dms from blue tick writers. I ignored them. I'm trying to remember who they were from. I can't reactivate an old
account to see, can I? I'm sure one of
them was from a person
mentioned

Im just listening to episode 2. Im struck by how insincere his messages are and the NDA etc. Massive, massive attempt at damage limitation when both him and AP realise the disposable young woman they had bought into his orbit for his standard 'pervy middle aged man sex with young fans' was actually vulnerable and this time they had chosen someone who wouldnt just stay quiet and was quite damaged, before and after. Pathetic really, whatever the legal rights and wrongs were.

More than good friends with DT. Uses DT as a lubricant it seems.

Internet archive might have it still

It really brings home how pathetic these BDSM types are. Wanting to 'dominate' and hurt a vulnerable young woman is the act of a total fucking inadequate.

the more I listen to this the more horrified I am. I'm feeling pretty fucking judgy of his wife too.

In fairness, doesn't mean DT is fully aware of this aspect, though I think deliberate "blind eye turning" is likely. Still utterly creepy fuckery though, given the age of DT's likely fans. I can't believe that his celeb pals wouldn't know about this behaviour, especially since they go to comic con type events together regularly. NG's "hunts" for young female fans to shag appears to have been common knowledge.

I've only listened to the first podcast so far. What a vile, sleazy old man. I also think AP seems complicit, in a "procuring" sort of way. Not exactly cool or "feminist", Amanda.

the more I listen to this the more horrified I am.

Indeed. The 4th episode is really tough.

What you also see is how the idea of "social media intimacy" really opened the way for the first young woman (Scarlet) to be groomed.