Author Neil Gaiman faced accusations of sexual assault in 2024 from five women. Now, more women have come forward with allegations against Gaiman in a new report.
**Mentions of alleged sexual assault lie ahead**
In a new piece from Vulture, Scarlett Pavlovich claimed that she met Gaiman’s ex, Amanda Palmer, while in New Zealand and the two struck up a friendship. Pavlovich said that she would often help Palmer out, babysitting her son, and doing errands for the musician. Pavlovich claims that led to a horrifying moment with Gaiman.
Pavlovich says that she was watching Palmer and Gaiman’s son for the weekend and had to go to Gaiman’s home to watch him. While there, Pavlovich claims Gaiman and she were alone while his son was at a play date. She details a moment when Gaiman told her to go and enjoy a bath in a tub he had outside on his property while he made a phone call.
As Pavlovich got comfortable, she says Gaiman allegedly joined her without her consent and then continued to make advances towards her despite her repeatedly telling him no. When he told her to stretch out and relax, she declined. “I said ‘no.’ I said, ‘I’m not confident with my body,’” Pavlovich said. “He said, ‘It’s okay — it’s only me. Just relax. Just have a chat.’” Pavlovich claims that when she did not move, Gaiman said “Don’t ruin the moment.” Eventually, Pavlovich says she did do as Gaiman requested and says that he then began allegedly stroking her feet.
Pavlovich’s alleged encounter is horrifying
Pavlovich claims that Gaiman asked her to sit in his lap and she shared with him that she was gay, never had sex, and has been sexually assaulted by a man in the past. “The next part is really amorphous,” Pavlovich told Vulture.
“But I can tell you that he put his fingers straight into my ass and tried to put his penis in my ass. And I said, ‘No, no.’ Then he tried to rub his penis between my breasts, and I said ‘no’ as well. Then he asked if he could come on my face, and I said ‘no’ but he did anyway. He said, ‘Call me ‘master,’ and I’ll come.’ He said, ‘Be a good girl. You’re a good little girl.’”
Pavlovich said that he then said his ex told him he could not have Pavlovich but he wished it was the “good old days” where he could have slept with them both. Her story of Gaiman wanting her to reportedly call him “master” is one that is detailed again in Vulture’s piece. A young woman who went by the pseudonym Brenda claims that Gaiman allegedly asked her to do the same when the two were reportedly hooking up with each other back at the World Horror Convention in Chicago.
“He wanted me to call him ‘master’ immediately.” Brenda alleges that Gaiman switched from caring to not. “It was like he’d gone into this ritual that had nothing to do with me.”
Pavlovich went on to detail an alleged sexual relationship with Gaiman that she looks back on differently. She claimed Gaiman had sex with her without her consent while his son was in the room. Pavlovich also alleged that this went on whenever she was staying at Gaiman’s to help with the child.
Palmer allegedly became aware of the situation when Pavlovich told her over a dinner. It was reportedly a catalyst in their divorce and Pavlovich says that, at first, Palmer was very open and accommodating with her. She also claimed that Gaiman would text her about the situation when he and Palmer were in counseling.
Eventually, Gaiman agreed to help Pavlovich after she signed an NDA and he paid her installments that amounted to $9,200.
A series of women claim similarly harrowing stories about Gaiman
The original allegations against Gaiman painted a terrifying picture. These women alleged that Gaiman would often pressure these women into doing sexual acts for him and the allegations ranged for decades. Through Vulture‘s piece with Pavlovich, their research included four of the women from the first set of allegations against Gaiman as well as four new allegations.
For the most part, these allegations are all about women who were significantly younger than Gaiman and while he was in a position of power over them. Vulture detailed that two were working for him at the time, five were fans of his, and the youngest of his alleged victims was only 18 years old. The piece also details more ways in which Gaiman allegedly used his power and status as a “beloved” writer to sexually assault women.
Katherine Kendall claims she had a flirtatious relationship with Gaiman that she said was not going anywhere sexual but then Gaiman allegedly laid on top of her, kissing her. “Kiss me like you mean it,” Kendall claims Gaiman said at the time. Kendall claims she tried to get into it but could not. “‘I’m a very wealthy man,’” she alleges Gaiman said, “‘and I’m used to getting what I want.’”
Gaiman allegedly paid Kendall $60,000 for therapy “to make up some of the damage.”
Neil Gaiman allegedly used his power on fans
Kendra Stout’s allegations against Gaiman detail a story of power imbalance. Stout was a young fan of Gaiman’s work when she met him in Florida. She claims that Gaiman took her on a date, took her back to his hotel room, and allegedly did not care that Stout said he was hurting her. Stout claims that Gaiman does not believe in foreplay and said that sex was hurting her because she wasn’t submissive enough.
“He talked at length about the dominant and submissive relationship he wanted out of me,” Stout told Vulture and she went as far as to say that Gaiman never reportedly asked her if any of it was okay by her. Stout says that Gaiman never introduced safe words or asked her about her limits and when she told him that she didn’t enjoy it he said “It’s the only way I can get off.” She also alleges that he beat her with his belt despite not asking her if it was alright.
Stout, who filed a police report in October of 2024 alleging that Gaiman raped her, told Vulture about a trip she took with Gaiman. Stout alleges that Gaiman raped her after she told him she could not have penetrative sex because of a UTI. She claims that Gaiman attempted to finger her and she said no before he allegedly penetrated her with his penis.
“It was a big hard ‘no,’” she told the outlet. “I told him, ‘You cannot put anything in my vagina or I will die.’” When Gaiman ignored her, she told Vulture that she just “shut down.”
A deeper look into the previous allegations against Gaiman
The Vulture piece details the claims from other women, previously explored in the Tortoise Media podcast about him. One of those women was Caroline Wallner. She worked on Gaiman’s Woodstock estate and lived in a house there. She claims that Gaiman was comforting her and stuck his hands in her underwear to grab her butt without her consent.
Wallner’s story is one that shares of blurred lines between her and Gaiman when he was reportedly in a closed relationship with Palmer (one that was previously open). Wallner claims that she voiced her concerns with Gaiman and he continued to brush her off. She then details on instance where she was babysitting for him and woke up to find Gaiman joining her and his son in bed and while his son was allegedly in the bed with them, he grabbed her hand and forced her to touch his penis.
“He didn’t have boundaries,” Wallner told the outlet. “I remember thinking that there was something really wrong with him.”
Neil Gaiman refutes the allegations
Gaiman continues to claim that these relationships were consensual. His team, in response to the previously allegations, said “sexual degradation, bondage, domination, sadism, and masochism may not be to everyone’s taste, but between consenting adults, BDSM is lawful.”
The Vulture piece details moments in Palmer and Gaiman’s relationship where Palmer would introduce a fan of hers to Gaiman. One specific account was detailed by a fan who went by Rachel. She claims she slept with Palmer after a Dresden Dolls show and when Palmer eventually got bored with her, she was introduced to Gaiman and flown out to his home. Rachel does not allege wrong doing by Gaiman but did say that he pushed her in ways that hurt or scared her.
The women who have accused Gaiman of sexual assault recently spent New Years together and have found comfort in one another. “It’s been like meeting survivors of the same cult,” Stout told Vulture. “It’s impossible to understand unless you were there.”
Published: Jan 13, 2025 01:11 pm