# Neil Gaiman accused of being serial sexual abuser **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 5, 2024, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781 "2024-07-05T19:48:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/201 "2025-01-13T22:18:05Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > There’s a difference between drawing a conclusion based on the number and mutual support of the allegations vs legal proof - granted. BUT, we, as uninvolved in the direct legal process aren’t held to the standards of said legal proof. Sure. We can conclude he is a seducer, someone you don’t want to leave your daughter alone with. But we cant call him a rapist. Skeevy? Sure. It seems there was consent there, even if pushed beyond the boundaries of good taste. I like two of his books- American Gods and Neverwhere. Good Omens- the series was fine, but that was pTerry also, and Gaiman is not actively involved in Season 3. As for BDSM- whatever floats your boat. I wont judge. I have not seen any new books by Gaiman I want to read anyway. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/202 "2025-01-13T22:24:25Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It seems there was consent there, even if pushed beyond the boundaries of good taste. Did you read the article? Because it sounds like there was no consent given at all. In fact, there was active _non_-consent. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/203 "2025-01-13T22:25:06Z")
No, that’s not a fair assessment of the situation in the least. There have been claims, made independently by a number of women, that he did not obtain consent in those cases. Not that he went beyond the bounds of good taste but that he went beyond the bounds of consent. And that would make him a rapist, not just “someone you don’t want to leave your daughter alone with”, which is essentially describing a sexual predator in any event, i.e. a distinction without meaningful difference. It is highly likely that many, if not most, of his sexual encounters over the years have been consensual. This is no real secret. But that’s also irrelevant. If any of his sexual encounters were not fully consensual, that’s a major problem. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/204 "2025-01-13T22:27:06Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > But we cant call him a rapist. Neil Gaiman is a rapist. Huh. You appear to be objectively wrong on this one. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/205 "2025-01-13T22:28:35Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > Off topic, but I loved Piers Anthony as a pre-teen and teenager I haven’t read any Piers Anthony for many years. Always thought he was in the category of: read ‘A Spell for Chameleon’ and then STOP. Rather like Herbert and Dune. Didn’t know he had gone weird… thought he was just milking the series? Jack Chalker had some very off-colour sexual stuff in his books too. Seems to have been a bit of a trend in the late 80s? I will reserve judgement until I see more evidence. ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/206 "2025-01-13T22:28:52Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Have you ever read some of Anne Rices A. N. Roquelaure books? Creepy and skeevy as all fuck. I have not. But i’m guessing they’re not geared toward pre-teens like Anthony’s work is. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/207 "2025-01-13T22:50:02Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@DrDeth](#): > > > > But we cant call him a rapist. > > Neil Gaiman is a rapist. > > Huh. You appear to be objectively wrong on this one. Seems accurate to me. You called him a rapist with your cant. To be clear, I’m using cant here as a synonym for “patter” rather than the more insulting versions. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/208 "2025-01-13T23:06:04Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I still have all my Harry Potter books too, bought long before JKR came out as a transphobic loon. I just went back and listened to my Robert Galbraith (JKR) audiobooks… well, okay, the first three\*, and they were excellent and indeed FUN mysteries. Which I’d already paid for. I’m sure I’ll do the same with my Gaiman books and my Cosby records, but won’t buy any more (but after enough time has past that I won’t have to wash my brain afterwards). \*The later ones had some of her repellant attitudes creeping in. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/209 "2025-01-13T23:07:32Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > Always thought he was in the category of: read ‘A Spell for Chameleon’ and then STOP. _A Spell for Chameleon_ starts off with its protagonist trying to grow his own compliant sex doll by planting a field of crops and urinating in it every night - this is, per Xanth magic, a reliable method to grow a nymph who has an insatiable urge to fuck you. It also has the backstory for where Centaurs came from, which is a bunch of Spanish explorers wandered into Xanth, accidentally drank from a fountain of love, and ended up fucking their horses. It was _always_ weird and creepy. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/210 "2025-01-13T23:09:20Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Sure seducing someone who was talked into something they might not do by a celebrity is creepy. But it is not rape. As long as consent was given. Yeah, I’m afraid it looks way beyond seduction to me. Especially as consent given once (no matter how skeevily acquired) absolutely does not mean consent granted forever. I’m very comfortable saying Gaiman is coming off as pretty rapey in a couple of those accounts. As RickJay noted if those stories are true as written he absolutely should be in prison. Early in this thread I mentioned that I hoped the accusations weren’t true - I like some of Gaiman’s work quite a bit. But there is an awful lot of smoke now over multiple years with some damning anecdotal evidence. It looks highly likely there is fire there. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/211 "2025-01-13T23:18:14Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Sure seducing someone who was talked into something they might not do by a celebrity is creepy. But it is not rape. As long as consent was given. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Sure. We can conclude he is a seducer, someone you don’t want to leave your daughter alone with. But we cant call him a rapist. Skeevy? Sure. It seems there was consent there, even if pushed beyond the boundaries of good taste. If you want to defend him, you might do well to read the accusations first. Because your “it’s all good, he’s just unpleasant” defense is completely at odds with what multiple women have said he did. I have no problem calling him a rapist. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/212 "2025-01-13T23:46:24Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > _A Spell for Chameleon_ starts off with its protagonist trying to grow his own compliant sex doll by planting a field of crops and urinating in it every night - this is, per Xanth magic, a reliable method to grow a nymph who has an insatiable urge to fuck you. Sowing some wild oats? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/213 "2025-01-13T23:47:29Z")
Yes, that was the pun. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/214 "2025-01-14T00:13:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > It seems there was consent there Does it? _Spoiler: Graphic descriptions of sexual assault_ > ““I said ‘no.’ I said, ‘I’m not confident with my body,’” … “He said, ‘It’s okay — it’s only me. Just relax. Just have a chat.’” > … > 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.’” > [https://www.themarysue.com/neil-gaiman-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-detailed-new-report/](https://www.themarysue.com/neil-gaiman-accused-of-sexual-assault-in-detailed-new-report/) Does it? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/215 "2025-01-14T00:15:06Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > > [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > > > Always thought he was in the category of: read ‘A Spell for Chameleon’ and then STOP. > > _A Spell for Chameleon_ starts off with its protagonist trying to grow his own compliant sex doll by planting a field of crops and urinating in it every night - this is, per Xanth magic, a reliable method to grow a nymph who has an insatiable urge to fuck you. It also has the backstory for where Centaurs came from, which is a bunch of Spanish explorers wandered into Xanth, accidentally drank from a fountain of love, and ended up fucking their horses. > > It was _always_ weird and creepy. Holy shit he’s still writing them. I read the first one when I was 12 or so and it was a few years old at the time. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/216 "2025-01-14T00:57:55Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Sure seducing someone who was talked into something they might not do by a celebrity is creepy. But it is not rape. As long as consent was given. Some of what’s described in the Vulture article includes clear refusal of consent; along with the claim that Gaiman went ahead and did what he wanted anyway, even to women who were clearly saying “no”. – on another issue, from that article: > in my conversations with Gaiman’s old friends, collaborators, and peers, nearly all of them told me that they never imagined that Gaiman’s affairs could have been anything but enthusiastically consensual. so that reads to me as if we can acquit Pratchett. If many others of his friends never imagined there was anything going on that wasn’t consensual, probably Pratchett didn’t either. > [@DrDeth](#): > > I like two of his books- American Gods and Neverwhere. Good Omens- the series was fine, but that was pTerry also I haven’t read Neverwhere. I was really impressed by American Gods. Good Omens there is no way that I’m throwing out. That book seriously means something to me. But the series – I watched the first one, and was massively enjoying myself – all the way up to the ending. They changed the ending, and to me flat out ruined it; though I think Pratchett may have signed on to the change. Spoilered, you might not want to read if you haven’t read the original Good Omens and ever might: In the book, the Antichrist decides not to end the world because he’s fallen in love with a place. The place as a whole: its people and its creatures, its land and its waters, the human community, the community of the place as a whole. That’s what’s real, to him and to the rest of his gang, that specific place; all the rest of it was a game. The video version, beautifully done as it was otherwise, turned that into ‘a boy loves his dog’. – anyway, I’m keeping that. I’ll tell myself I’m not throwing out Pratchett’s part; and not even they separate one’s part from the others. I’m not sure I’ve got anything by Gaiman on his own, though I’ve taken a good bit of it out of the library; I might not throw it out if I did, I’ve only actually thrown out about three books in my life. I don’t know that I’ll take anything else out from the library. I might buy something at a yard sale. I’m not going to be buying anything new that’s by him. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/217 "2025-01-14T01:20:33Z")
Neil Gaiman was one of my favorite authors. I regularly named _American Gods_ as one of my favorite novels. If these accusations are true, and I have very little reason to believe otherwise, he’s a fucking rapist and I won’t likely be able to stomach reading his works in the future (and I own many.) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/218 "2025-01-14T01:33:25Z")
Re Gaiman Yep, I read the Mary Sue article. It is possible that Neil Gaiman is not a rapist. It just is highly unlikely. Re Anne Rice In college, the gaming club had a few books in its library- Mazes And Monsters, Hyperion, and Rice’s Sleeping Beauty trilogy. Skeevy yes, but intended for reading by adults. Also, it was just porn. It was not pretending to be anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/219 "2025-01-14T01:33:30Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I’m not sure I’ve got anything by Gaiman on his own, though I’ve taken a good bit of it out of the library; I might not throw it out if I did I’ve got a moderate amount of Gaiman - the complete Sandman set and Death limited series packed away in storage somewhere, the Stardust graphic novel, an illustrated version of the short story Chivalry, a few of the novels. I recently (last year I think, but pre-accusation) re-read [The Graveyard Book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Graveyard_Book). I don’t currently intend to throw anything out. It’s sunk cost and I think I can separate the art from the abuser for most of it. But I won’t be buying anything more. Not that it matters to him at this point, as he’s set for life. But I really don’t need to send him anymore of my money. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2025, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/220 "2025-01-14T01:46:03Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It was _always_ weird and creepy. It sounds like… something. On the other hand, it seems to be that genuinely disturbingly weird and creepy is something writers go for, as in Stephen King, Clive Barker, … Not sure “fucking horses” is in the same category. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781.md?page=12)