Neil Gaiman Accused Of Sexual Assault Pt II

[hihelenhi]

As we're nearly at the end of the first thread, let's make sure we keep the topic current.

There have been five women now who have spoken to podcasts about the predatory behaviour of Neil Gaiman.

First thread here:

www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5112128-neil-gaiman-accused-of-sexual-assault

They discussed the importance of media coverage to encourage other potential victims to come forward, and the power imbalance when it comes to celebrities and things like NDAs, as well as how there’s a tendency for the celebrity accused to be treated more kindly.

Wow. This makes the BBC’s silence around Gaiman all the more shady. They’ve admitted they know damn well that media coverage helps to encourage other victims to come forward, and yet they’ve actively chosen to suppress this story.

I hate to be pedantic, but Days 84 and 86 seem to have the same date. More worryingly, Day 85 is awol.

I don't think I've posted since the last thread but I've been following (thanks for your continued efforts @notathenabutcassandra ).

I know there are those within the writing circles who appear to be quietly withdrawing, but I still don't think there will ever be an enormous outcry about this. I think I said before, and I still think, that by keeping quiet NG believes that the worst of it will blow over - and it pains me to say, but I think he's probably right.

I've seen plenty of "I'm not engaging in trial by social media" and "well, if he was guilty then he would have been charged...". I think those types of opinion and the fact that some of the texts imply consent will see him through this. Whether he'll ever return to his previous status is doubtful, but no one big is coming out to condemn him. Everyone seems content to stay silent which to me suggests that they think this will blow over.

Of course I really hope that I'm wrong and I've been quietly cheering every additional bit of reporting that appears on this. I commented on Michael Sheen's post on Twitter and on the Good Omens thread and I still get a steady, slow drip of likes - but there's plenty of opposition to my comments too....

😂 You're right - I posted 84 late, the morning after (with an apology for missing it the night before), then posted 86 instead of 85. I've been trying to get ahead of them by making a few at the same time and I obviously selected the wrong one!

(Worryingly, the dementors at play are dealing with a close family member's reduced mental capacity - looks like it's catching... 😉)

Sooooooo... TODAY is 86, not yesterday. Normal service shall resume tomorrow.

Also, for the algorithms: it's been COMING UP FOR 100 DAYS since allegations of sexual assault were made against Neil Gaiman, who has yet to respond 😉

thank you for your persistence notathena. It’s good to have the continual reminder that Gaiman is still skulking.

I wouldn't expect any serious distancing from him in the SFF author community. Their usual response to sexual assault allegations is to hem and haw about how it's terribly complicated and nothing has been definitively proved. The only way they'd cancel him is if there were a rumour of him being a Trump supporter.

Much the same in comics. A few creatives have spoken about it, but unfortunately you're talking about Tess Fowler or Gail Simone, really toxic individuals who are more likely to make people disbelieve the allegations.

But my basic take on NG is that he's no longer really an author. He hasn't written a novel or graphic novel in years. Mostly he works as a showrunner for adaptations of his old properties. That seems to be drying up.

My instinct - maybe I'm wrong - is that he's comfortable when it comes to money, and what he really cares about is his reputation. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing if he were to fade into obscurity. He's 63 and seems to be in reasonable health - maybe the real punishment would be years of no longer having the regular puff pieces about beloved author Neil Gaiman, until he sees himself becoming forgotten. And imagining what his obituaries will say.

No longer listed as a fellow in the society if authors:

https://www.thebookseller.com/news/neil-gaiman-accused-of-sexual-assault-by-fifth-woman
(This article asks for comment from The Society of Authors)

https://societyofauthors.org/about-us/fellows/
(Current list)

Still a paton of the Royal Society of Literature
https://rsliterature.org/type-of-fellow/patron/q

Still patron of The Bookend Trust. Australian charity.
https://bookendtrust.au/about/

Can't find any recent mention of his patronage of the Open Rights Group.

Still patron of The Science Fiction Foundation
https://www.sf-foundation.org/

Th third one surprises me, this is a registeredUK charity. There are some governance issues there

New York Times article about it all:

www.nytimes.com/2024/09/26/business/neil-gaiman-allegations.html

Any chance you could copy and paste? I can't get past the paywall.

Production Linked to Neil Gaiman Is Halted Amid Sexual Assault Claims
The British author of dozens of literary works has denied the allegations that five women made against him on a podcast series.
Sept. 26, 2024

The author Neil Gaiman has denied allegations of sexual assault that have been made against him in a podcast.Rozette Rago for The New York Times
The production of a movie based on a book by the noted British author Neil Gaiman has been paused by Disney amid allegations that five women have made against him relating to conduct from 1986 to 2022, including one woman who said Mr. Gaiman groped her on a tour bus in 2013 and later paid her $60,000.
The women shared their allegations, which included claims of sexual assault, groping and kissing, on the podcast “Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman.” Mr. Gaiman, 63, has told the podcast he denies any wrongdoing.
The allegations played a role in pausing the production of “The Graveyard Book,” an adaptation of the eponymous young adult novel by Mr. Gaiman, according to a person at Disney. But the allegations were not the sole reason that the production, which was in development, was paused. Disney would not provide any additional reasons.
Another production related to Mr. Gaiman has been canceled for unspecified reasons. “Dead Boy Detectives,” a TV series based on a comic book by Mr. Gaiman, will not return for a second season, according to Netflix, which declined to share why the series would not return. There have been no changes to the Netflix series “The Sandman,” which is based on a separate comic book series by Mr. Gaiman.
Amazon would not say whether there would be any changes to “Good Omens,” a series based on a novel by Mr. Gaiman written in collaboration with Terry Pratchett.
The turmoil around the productions linked to the author has come amid the launch of the podcast, which in July and August released six episodes that detail the women’s accounts. The series has drawn widespread attention among fans, in literary circles and in the entertainment industry.
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Re. the NY Times article. If this works, it's an unlocked link to it:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/26/business/neil-gaiman-allegations.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Nk4.WaI-._J2-QffLD5A5&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb

Otherwise you can get to it from: https://www.reddit.com/r/neilgaimanuncovered/comments/1fq7ypa/jesus_jiménezs_nyt_piece_on_the_ng_allegations/

Also (posted to soon), Someone says that the Society of Authors have said the NG 'volunteered to temporarily step down as a fellow on 25th September'.
https://bsky.app/profile/chronicleflask.katday.com/post/3l554jp27el2w
The same thread notes that all press enquiries are being handled by the crisis management company. (That's a quote from 'World at One' on 12th September, but I've no idea what point in the show it is. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0022swn?)

87 days since allegations of sexual assault were made against Neil Gaiman, who has yet to respond.

I'll wager we will get to 100 days and way beyond without any response.
There probably won't be a response other than "silence, exile and cunning' to quote James Joyce.

88 days since allegations of sexual assault were made against Neil Gaiman, who has yet to respond.

I suspect you are probably right, with the vague hope something like Sandman Season 2 gets released (I believe it’s already filmed and already too late in the day to can it unless the controversy does stratospheric) and does well enough it overshadows the controversies, and maybe the final season of Good Omens too, as they are just to start filming.

If he leaves it just long enough, he’ll rebrand himself away from pro-feminist champion of women, to dark rebel edgy writer with his own rules and personal traumas, and that will be that.

Gaiman’s Wikipedia page has been updated to mention all five women. Copied and pasted below…

Sexual assault allegations
In 2024, five women accused Gaiman of sexual assault and abuse. All five of these women were interviewed on the Tortoise Media podcast "Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman." One, who used the pseudonym "Claire", was also interviewed by the New York Times.[190] Claire described being kissed and groped by Gaiman without her consent after meeting him at a book tour event. Women identified as "K" and "Scarlett" allege that Gaiman sexually assaulted them during the course of their romantic relationships with him, and a former tenant of Gaiman's named Caroline Wallner alleges that he demanded sexual favors in exchange for being allowed to continue living on his property.[191][192]The writer Julia Hobsbawm accused Gaiman of "an aggressive, unwanted pass" and described how Gaiman pushed her onto a sofa and French kissed her. Gaiman has denied all the accusations, and dismissed the Hobsbawm incident as "no more than a young man misreading a situation."[192][193]
In September 2024, Disney halted production on the film adaptation of The Graveyard Book due to a variety of factors, including the sexual assault allegations against Gaiman.[194][195][190] That same month, production on series 3 of Good Omens was put on hold; Deadline Hollywood reported that there were "discussions about possible production changes".[196]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Gaiman

I saw that on Reddit earlier, well done that woman who pushed for it. I think they should add in that he paid Claire $60,000 for the damage he'd done (and presumably to try to keep her quiet).

Well done to whoever added that to the Wikipedia page!

I don't think anything overt will happen to him. I think his creative career was all but over anyway and we just won't see him any more. What I think will change is that the conveyor belt of women that he's cultivated is now going to be cut off. He's quite a old bloke now, so I don't suppose he'd have got away with it much longer in any case. But when you look at the women's stories, he clearly traded on the tension between the 'dark and edgy creative' vs 'such a sensitive Feminist Good Guy' personas. Confusion and ambiguity allowed him to get away with his behaviour with K, Scarlett and Claire. ('Is this a relationship?' 'What does he want from me?' 'Is this sexual?' 'His wife sent me here so I must be safe' 'If such a Great Guy did that maybe it is just amazing liberated kinky sex and I need to be more of a Cool Girl?') That cannot be sustained now that these allegations are out there.

Besides the sexual opportunities, he clearly LOVED living his life in a public relationship with thousands of fans - twitter chitchat, signing copies in bookshops, comic conventions etc, Endless WhatsApping with fans. (The bit with Claire made me wonder about how much time he was spending on cultivating these young women.)

All that is surely over now. His friends aren't defending him. I wonder if they're answering his calls.

I can't see the law giving justice here, but the court of public opinion might just do so, this time. I'm no fan of condemnation without due process, but as I said previously, the stuff he's admitted to is enough for me to consider him a thoroughly vile person.

90 days since allegations of sexual assault were made against Neil Gaiman, who has yet to respond.

It is slowly getting out there. When appropriate I mention it on Facebook groups and I'm getting less "what has he done?" and more "he's basically scum". Seeing less defence of him too.