# 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:** 27
**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:** [April 22, 2025, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/521 "2025-04-22T16:52:58Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Yes. Is he hard up enough that half a million dollars is worth losing in the court of public opinion over? I think “suing the victim” is the final nail in the coffin of his career. I think that coffin has been firmly nailed shut for some time now, and Gaiman is doing some combination of grabbing as much money as he can now that his earnings have been drastically reduced, and punishing one of the women he blames for destroying his career. ---
**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:** [April 22, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/522 "2025-04-22T17:39:52Z")
According to the website below, dated January 14, 2025, Gaiman is now worth $18 million (US): > **[Neil Gaiman net worth: How rich is the world-renowned author?](https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/global-trends/neil-gaiman-net-worth-how-rich-is-the-world-renowned-author/articleshow/117265791.cms?from=mdr)** > > Neil Gaiman, the world-renowned author of Caroline and The Sandman, is widely celebrated across the globe for his imaginative storytelling. But his image has taken a hit after serious sexual assault allegations were levelled against him from women... ---
**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:** [April 22, 2025, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/523 "2025-04-22T23:12:19Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Alternate theory: NDAs are a pox on humanity, with little to no legitimate purpose. The more people break them, the better. I can envision legitimate and useful NDAs, like a company protecting their proprietary technology. But I think that the clear marker is the question “What’s the NDA about?”. If the NDA prevents you from also answering that question, it goes too far. I can know that Bob the engineer for MegaCorp, Inc. is not allowed to talk about the design of their widget-making machine. Knowing that does not in any way reveal MegaCorp’s secrets. But if I know that Jane Nobody isn’t allowed to talk about her sexual interactions with Joe Bigname, then that in itself contains most of the content of the NDA. To put it in legal terms, I think that, in order to be enforceable, the terms of a contract must be publicly-knowable. ---
**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, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/524 "2025-04-22T23:32:02Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > But I think that the clear marker is the question “What’s the NDA about?”. Not that’s so clear. The NDA is about a possible future purchase or merger of the business. None of the parties want even that the company is actively in negotiations with anyone to be public knowledge until the announcement. Speculation that discussion is current with anyone may kibosh the deal. Everyone with the need to know signs the NDA. Legit use. (Real situation. Our company will at some point be in some equity deal of some sort. We don’t know what or when. But I do know that anyone saying they know is full of shit, by definition, because anyone who would know would have signed that NDA. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2025, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/525 "2025-04-22T23:33:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I can know that Bob the engineer for MegaCorp, Inc. is not allowed to talk about the design of their widget-making machine. Knowing that does not in any way reveal MegaCorp’s secrets. Exactly. At my first job (at a personal-care products company), we had a senior chemist whom we’d hired from a competitor. He was under an NDA for the first one or two years he was with us, and every once in a while, he’d have to give us a reply to a question which was along the lines of, “I’m not allowed to comment on that,” or “I can’t confirm or deny that.” It was always clear what he wasn’t allowed to give us details about. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2025, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/526 "2025-04-23T00:00:59Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > He was under an NDA for the first one or two years he was with us, and every once in a while, he’d have to give us a reply to a question which was along the lines of, “I’m not allowed to comment on that,” or “I can’t confirm or deny that.” It was always clear what he wasn’t allowed to give us details about. “So, uh. were you in the Army?” “No.” “Um. The Navy? Air Force?” “No.” “Are you ex-CIA?” “I cannot confirm or deny that.” ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/527 "2025-04-23T00:25:52Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > None of the parties want even that the company is actively in negotiations with anyone to be public knowledge until the announcement. Similarly, there are development program where the mere existence of the program is secret (either trade secret or _secret_ secret). I believe the term-of-art in the DoD world is unacknowledged. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/528 "2025-10-09T06:52:02Z")
One of the lawsuits has been dismissed because the case was filled in Wisconsin about something that happened in New Zealand. The judge said the suit needs to be filed in New Zealand. > **[Neil Gaiman Sexual Assault Lawsuit Dismissed On Jurisdictional Grounds](https://bleedingcool.com/comics/neil-gaiman-sexual-assault-lawsuit-dismissed-on-jurisdictional-grounds/)** > > The US courts dismiss sexual assault lawsuit made against Neil Gaiman on jurisdictional grounds, that it should have been made in New Zealand ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/529 "2025-10-09T12:29:09Z")
That’s already being appealed. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/530 "2025-10-09T14:16:50Z")
Can a lawyer-type person explain the thinking behind why the case was filed in Wisconsin in the first place? My _Law & Order_ legal “education” tells me that _criminal_ charges are filed in the jurisdiction in which the crime occurred. Is that not standard practice in civil cases? What is the advantage to the plaintiff to filing in Wisconsin here? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/531 "2025-10-09T14:58:07Z")
In commercial insurance liability cases, claims can be filed where the injury happened, where the company being sued is domiciled or does business, or where the allegedly injured party lives. There was an important court ruling a few years ago that claims could only be filed in a place that had some relationship to the parties or the injury, which had some impact on asbestos claims, which were mostly filed in counties where it was easiest to win a judgement, whether or not that jurisdiction had any relationship to the claim. Jurisdiction shopping is common. I assume that the rules are similar for personal liability cases. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/532 "2025-10-09T15:26:53Z")
Gaiman was domiciled there. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/533 "2025-10-09T15:34:02Z")
Yes, thank you, I read the article. My question is: why does that make it a better place for the plaintiff to file than the jurisdiction in which the (alleged) assault occurred? Presumably her lawyers are not idiots and they filed it there for some reason. The article lists many reasons, as stated by the judge, why she should have filed in NZ. Why didn’t she? I am assuming there is some good reason for it. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/534 "2025-10-09T15:36:29Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > My question is: why does that make it a better place for the plaintiff to file than the jurisdiction in which the (alleged) assault occurred? She’d already tried getting a criminal case in NZ so likely doesn’t trust their legal system, her lawyers are not in NZ so probably know US law better, and none of the people involved live in NZ any more, I think those are all factors. ---
**Author:** ![ShadowFacts](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shadowfacts/32/2934_2.png) [@ShadowFacts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShadowFacts)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/535 "2025-10-09T15:38:02Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > She’d already tried getting a criminal case in NZ so likely doesn’t trust their legal system Ah OK, thanks. I have not followed this very closely and was not aware of that. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/536 "2025-10-09T15:40:12Z")
I would be very confused if I was sitting on a jury for a case here in Arkansas for something that happened on the other side of the globe in New Zealand. ---
**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:** [October 9, 2025, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/537 "2025-10-09T17:06:35Z")
> [@ShadowFacts](#): > > My question is: why does that make it a better place for the plaintiff to file than the jurisdiction in which the (alleged) assault occurred? In addition to MrDibble’s points, my (imperfect) understanding based on just reading web chatter and a tiny bit of research [like this paper (see from page 27 on)](https://digitalcommons.law.villanova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=wps), is that it is it harder to get awarded punitive damage in New Zealand vs. the United States generally. But much more importantly the amounts tend to be relatively quite low even when they are awarded. The expense of bringing suit may not be supportable in New Zealand - the court costs may just be prohibitively expensive compared to uncertain prospects of very limited recovery. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2025, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/538 "2025-10-09T18:16:48Z")
If it’s a civil liability case, you’d be guided by the laws in the state where the trial took place. So, not really that confusing. You’d hear evidence of what happened, just like you would fit a local case. A civil case isn’t “the state vs,”, it’s just party A vs. party B. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2026, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/539 "2026-02-02T21:17:40Z")
> **[Neil Gaiman Is Innocent: Introduction](https://technopathology.substack.com/p/neil-gaiman-is-innocent-introduction?fbclid=IwY2xjawPt7s9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETEycHpqNktHWHdxYkNOaWxSc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHiz8UtKFRzkFwZcEYh8XHPK9VMAFhtvWxnr4YAfZFmDX-q9CGYDw5CeIFDAu_aem_3a25DH2Xc-T0oOYrpyJShQ)** > > How this all began. _A quote would play, and then the reporter Paul Curuana Galizia would interject something that was the complete opposite of what had just been said. Rachel Johnson would cut off an interviewee, and fail to ask obvious and important follow-up questions. They would follow unnecessary tangents, bring up general talking points that did not relate to the events, but seemed merely there to distract when any question of the accusation’s validity might emerge._ _The background music played sombre and tragic strings, ever suggestive that something serious and disturbing lay around the corner. But somehow the actual moment of revelation always evaporated into vague innuendo, faux-deep rhetorical questions and pop psychology talking points. When the claimants did get around to talking about the actual evil acts themselves, it often seemed well… consensual. The hosts even admitted this in many cases - yet pushed onwards._ _I couldn’t believe that anyone would take something like this seriously, and then I found out who Rachel Johnson was. Not even really a reporter, more like a pundit, and a right-wing transphobic one at that. A kind of female Tucker Carson. Well known for dim out of touch attitudes. The establishment, the sister of the former British PM Boris Johnson. What was she doing on an investigation like this? She was no supporter of #MeToo._… _Even more concerning, one of the accusers was best friends with the lead reporter Rachel Johnson. [A serious conflict of interest](https://technopathology.substack.com/p/neil-gaiman-is-innocent-and-it-gets?r=400nd8) that was never disclosed in Master ._ ---
**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:** [February 2, 2026, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/540 "2026-02-02T21:25:43Z")
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