# 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:** 25
**Author:** ![Hermione1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/d07c76/32.png) [@Hermione1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermione1)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/481 "2025-02-04T15:45:26Z")
Duly noted. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/482 "2025-02-04T15:45:28Z")
I’d be happy to discuss later if you want to start a new thread but I am not sure further discussion belongs here. ---
**Author:** ![Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8baadc/32.png) [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nicest_of_the_Damned)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/483 "2025-02-04T15:49:08Z")
> [@Hermione1](#): > > As if it were okay for him to DO THESE THINGS IN THE SAME ROOM AS HER SON, as long as his headphones were on. I doubt that’s what she meant. When people are suddenly confronted with something awful they sometimes focus on weird details. She may have been looking for some way to make it a tiny bit less horrible. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2025, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/484 "2025-02-04T16:07:50Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > I doubt that’s what she meant. What are you basing that doubt on? > [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > When people are suddenly confronted with something awful they sometimes focus on weird details. True enough. > [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > She may have been looking for some way to make it a tiny bit less horrible. Possible. She may have also meant ‘It is fine with me as long as our son has his headphones on’. I honestly don’t know. I really don’t feel like reading detailed accounts of sexual harrassment, predatory sexual behavior and rape. Without doing that, I cannot have an infomred opinon on some of the details. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/485 "2025-02-04T16:57:02Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > It’s like how I tell my wife when she leaves the house “Don’t stab random strangers on the train”. What an excellent song title! Probably a bluegrass arrangement, I think? With a touch of Spike Jones? Sorry, completely tangential. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/486 "2025-02-04T17:16:50Z")
> [@Nicest\_of\_the\_Damned](#): > > I’m saying whatever money and power she had may not have been enough to protect the victims Pretty sure her money would have been enough to pay for a proper professional nanny, so Scarlett would never have been in the situation. Pretty sure she had sufficient power to warn Scarlett off, rather than just … not. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/487 "2025-02-04T19:23:04Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Because I knew of her before she ever married Gaiman. > > And paying performers would be part of a music project ( unlike childcare, which she explicitly said she used the crowd funds for). > > Other things she said the crowdfunding went towards, like artwork, I know to be bullshit, because I _know_ artists donate work to her. > > She’s a grifter, she was a grifter before Gaiman, she’ll be grifting after Gaiman. She stood on the TED stage and proudly proclaimed her grift, she wrote a bestseller about her grifter lifestyle. I think her activities in defending or enabling Gaiman are important to this thread, but it sounds like you have a lot more information on her own errors (or crimes quite likely) beyond the scope of this thread, which is worthy of it’s own spinoff. 😉 > [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I had to do a lot of searching to discover that this means “I am not a U.S. lawyer”. Google only found two uses of this abbreviation in the whole internet. Maybe it’s better not to use it in online discussions. @Northern_Piper uses it _here_ quite a lot. I’m pretty sure they’re not using it on “the whole internet”. And, since we have so few newer members, most of us are familiar that they are a _Canadian_, not US lawyer. [aside, long may they continue to be so says this ashamed American to our Canadian partners that are getting the shaft from the not-my President] ---
**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:** [February 4, 2025, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/488 "2025-02-04T19:41:10Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > @Northern_Piper uses it _here_ quite a lot. And not just NP, but the acronym has been being used on this board for over _twenty years_. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/489 "2025-02-04T19:48:38Z")
> [@Kron](#): > > And not just NP, but the acronym has been being used on this board for over _twenty years_. I’m used to IANAL (which my 12-year old mind always renders as “I, anal”), so with the knowledge that @Northern_Piper is a Canadian lawyer I could extrapolate what IANAUSL means. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2025, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/490 "2025-02-04T19:56:10Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > I’m used to IANAL (which my 12-year old mind always renders as “I, anal”) Facebook’s algorythm keeps recommending an Indian restaurant named Thanal Express. True, I love Indian food. However, I keep misreading the name and that is the only thing about the ad that stands out. The Anal Express. I would go there for a colonoscopy or prostate exam. But, ordering food? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2025, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/491 "2025-02-04T21:33:33Z")
Some dishes do take the express route there … ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/492 "2025-02-05T01:16:12Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > > [@Gyrate](#): > > > > It’s like how I tell my wife when she leaves the house “Don’t stab random strangers on the train”. > > What an excellent song title! Probably a bluegrass arrangement, I think? > With a touch of Spike Jones? It could be on the flip side to « Don’t Let’s Be Beastly to the Germans ». > **[Don't Let's Be Beastly to the Germans](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Let%27s_Be_Beastly_to_the_Germans)** > > "Don't Let's Be Beastly To The Germans" is a satirical song composed by Noël Coward in 1943 during World War II. Although popular when performed live (British prime minister Winston Churchill demanded several encores when he first heard it) the humour did not translate well over the wireless and caused some fuss, leading the BBC to ban the song. > The refrain is: ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/493 "2025-02-05T01:41:14Z")
The abbreviation IANAUSL appears in 16 SDMB threads, none of which did I ever read. The earliest use on the SDMB was in March 2004. It’s not quite as common as you think. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/494 "2025-02-05T01:54:41Z")
This is a silly hijack, but the acronym IANAL is relatively common. Given the basic knowledge that Nothern\_Piper (KC if I’m not mistaken) is both a lawyer and a Canadian, it’s not hard to figure out. Is it inside baseball?, Yes, but we have a lot of those (like any relatively insular community). And whoever was puzzled could have just asked here instead of googling. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/495 "2025-02-05T05:00:58Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > Given the basic knowledge that Nothern\_Piper (KC if I’m not mistaken) is both a lawyer and a Canadian, it’s not hard to figure out. Or even if you don’t know/remember those things (I didn’t, but got it right away). ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/496 "2025-02-05T07:03:18Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > And whoever was puzzled could have just asked here instead of googling. That would have taken longer. It usually takes me about twenty seconds to find the meaning of an abbreviation I’ve never seen before. I spent about four minutes trying various ways to search online for something before I found what it meant. If I had asked what it means in a post here, it would have been several hours before I would have gotten the answer. Incidentally, when I searched on Google using “IANAUSL definition”, Google replied at the top of its answer that “It looks like there aren’t many great matches for your search”. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2025, 8:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/497 "2025-02-05T08:25:34Z")
**Moderating:** Enough on the IANAUSL, if you want to continue on abbreviations, take it to a new thread. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/498 "2025-04-22T07:21:28Z")
Neil Gaiman finally proves beyond all doubt that he is a piece of shit. > As reported in New York Magazine, the Sandman author is demanding $500,000 from Caroline Wallner, a former property caretaker who claims he pressured her for sex in exchange for housing. > > Wallner signed Gaiman’s hush-money agreement back in 2021, accepting $275,000 to keep quiet about their “encounters.” Now fantasy’s favorite feminist ally wants that money back, plus $50,000 for each time she’s dared to speak publicly about her experience. > **[After paying for silence, Gaiman demands a refund](https://boingboing.net/2025/04/21/after-paying-for-silence-gaiman-demands-a-refund.html/amp)** > > For a man who made millions writing about supernatural horrors, Neil Gaiman sure seems terrified of mortal women speaking their truth. As reported in New York Magazine, the Sandman author… ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/499 "2025-04-22T07:28:35Z")
So he’s conceding that she’s telling the truth? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/500 "2025-04-22T13:41:41Z")
_Legally_ does he have a case? Yes as a matter of practicality he is only hurting any chance he has to come out the other side. He draws _more_ attention to his being complete scum and to the … accusations … (which become now even less in doubt). But legally? Can he gain from this? Hurt her further? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781.md?page=26)