The bestselling fantasy author Neil Gaiman has publicly denied allegations of sexual assault and misconduct made by multiple women in a statement released on his website on Tuesday. He stated, “I am not a perfect person, but I have never engaged in any non-consensual activity with anyone. Never,” according to the blog post. This denial comes a day after New York Magazine published a cover story that included interviews with several women who accused him of sexual misconduct. The article, written by Lila Shapiro, focuses on the testimonies of four women, including a former nanny who claimed she was assaulted at his home in New Zealand in 2022. Another woman, who worked as a caretaker at a property in Woodstock, New York, alleged that starting in 2017, he pressured her to have sexual relations in exchange for allowing her family to stay at the property. On another occasion, while she was caring for his child, he attempted to initiate sexual contact while the child was sleeping between them.
On Tuesday, Gaiman reflected on his past, stating, “In reviewing everything that really happened, in opposition to the allegations, I accept that there has been no abuse. To reiterate, none.” He further added, “Some of the horrible stories being told now simply never happened, while others have been so distorted regarding what occurred that they bear no relation to reality. I am willing to take responsibility for any mistakes made. But I will not turn my back on the truth, I can accept being described as someone I am not, nor will I admit to having done things I did not do.”
Several of the women identified in the article had previously shared their testimonies last year, contributing to a series of podcasts by Tortoise Media that was released in July and August. A fifth woman was also interviewed in the podcast regarding an incident involving unwanted kisses in 1986. In the podcast, journalists Paul Caruana Galizia and Rachel Johnson mentioned that although Gaiman had declined to be interviewed, he had engaged in consensual contact.
At 64 years old, Gaiman is one of the most recognized authors of his generation. Following the success of the comic series The Sandman in the 1990s, he has written bestselling novels such as American Gods along with a dozen children’s books. Many of his works, including Coraline and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, have been adapted for theater and film. Since the allegations surfaced last summer, several public events have been canceled, including a scheduled appearance at Wolf Trap in Vienna, Virginia, on July 20, and a Zoom talk for a group of libraries in Illinois on September 17. In the fall, Times reported the suspension of film and television productions based on The Graveyard Book by Disney. The third season of Good Omens on Amazon Prime Video, based on the novel co-written with Terry Pratchett, will be reduced to a single 90-minute episode. (Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is the owner of The Washington Post.) Although Gaiman contributed to the writing of that episode, he will be involved in the production, which is set to begin in early 2025, as confirmed by Amazon Video in October.
Members of the literary world have reacted on social media since the publication on Monday morning. “I hate every possible facet of this, my heart is broken by it,” said John Scalzi, a multiple Hugo Award-winning science fiction author. “We have been friends for some time. All of this has been a gut punch.” Scott McCloud, a comic book artist and historian, described the situation as “painful” for him and his family, whom he has known for decades. “We have heard and seen the worst of them, I believe them,” he stated. “I still find traces of the person I knew. But ultimately, this is no longer my story to tell. It now belongs to the women; Scarlett, Caroline, and the others. And how they want it to end should be important.”
Source: . Photos: Reuters / Richard Clement; Instagram/Neil Gaiman; Danny Moloshok.
