What are the sexual assault allegations against author Neil Gaiman?

Several authors, including J K Rowling, Maureen Johnson and Naomi Alderman have criticised the muted response to these allegations by the literary community. Rowling on Monday compared Gaiman to Hollywood mogul and convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein, who was accused by several women of sexual assault at the height of the #MeToo movement.

When did the allegations against Gaiman first emerge?

The allegations against Gaiman span over two decades. They first came to light last July, with the ‘Master: the allegations against Neil Gaiman’ podcast by the UK-based Tortoise Media. Two younger women — his child’s nanny and a fan — accused him of sexual assault in the podcast.

The nanny, then 22, accused him of sexually assaulting “her within hours of their first meeting in February 2022 in a bath at his New Zealand residence”, according to an article on Tortoise’s website. At the time, Gaiman had refuted the allegations by saying that they had only “cuddled” and “made out” in the bath, and that he had established consent for these acts.

The fan, on the other hand, had met Gaiman as an 18-year-old in 2003. She “began a sexual relationship with him when she turned 20 and he was in his mid-40s” and “submitted to rough and painful sex that she neither wanted nor enjoyed”, she said in the podcast. She claimed that on one occasion, he forced her to engage in penetrative sex even as she nursed a painful UTI.

After the release of the first four episodes of ‘Master’, a third woman, who had briefly worked as a caretaker for Gaiman and his ex-wife Amanda Palmer, reached out to Tortoise to share her account. She alleged that Gaiman had pressured her to have sex with him in exchange for letting her live on his property, and was made to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for $275,000.

What does the latest New York Magazine article say?

The New York Magazine article builds on the allegations raised in the podcast in disturbing detail. All four women who spoke to Tortoise were interviewed by the magazine, and four more women came forward to allege that Gaiman had raped, coerced, and abused them.

The six women who came on record claimed that he had coerced them into rough sex and degrading acts, described by some news outlets as “non-consensual BDSM” (bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism).

Gaiman’s representatives, who spoke to Tortoise last year, said that “sexual degradation, bondage, domination, sadism, and masochism may not be to everyone’s taste, but between consenting adults, BDSM is lawful.” The essay discusses this, making the argument that enthusiastic consent and discussion are key to BDSM encounters, and act as the line that separates consensual BDSM from abuse.

The essay and the podcasts present a picture of the author as one who exploited the power he enjoyed over the women in question, demanding that they call him “master”, and let themselves be subjugated to his whims.

At least two women had reportedly signed NDAs, which they subsequently broke when speaking to Tortoise. The nanny told the New York Magazine that she had filed a complaint with the New Zealand police accusing Gaiman of sexual assault. The investigation into her allegations was eventually dropped, The Guardian reported.

Who is Neil Gaiman?

Gaiman is famous for the DC comic series The Sandman, and novels such as Good Omens, American Gods, Coraline, Anansi Boys, and The Graveyard Book. The 64-year-old worked as a journalist before turning to fiction, and many of his works have been adapted into films and TV series.

Over the years, he has built a reputation as a staunch feminist, and a defender of trans rights. In 2020, Gaiman joined 1,800 American and Canadian authors in signing an open letter pledging their support for trans and non-binary people.

Gaiman’s pro-trans rhetoric has previously brought him at odds with Rowling, among the most vocal anti-trans voices on the Internet and beyond.