# 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:** 9
**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:** [September 10, 2024, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/161 "2024-09-10T11:48:16Z")
That makes me very sad. But everything about this story makes me sad. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2024, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/162 "2024-09-12T02:55:19Z")
> **[Neil Gaiman Offers To Step Back From ‘Good Omens’ Season 3](https://deadline.com/2024/09/neil-gaiman-good-omens-season-3-step-back-1236084798/)** > > Neil Gaiman has offered to step back on 'Good Omens' Season 3 for the final series of the Amazon Prime Video fantasy drama starring Michael Sheen. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2024, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/163 "2024-09-13T21:57:08Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > (On the other hand, don’t get me started on Steve Brust) Oh please get started on Brust, probably my favorite SF writer. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2024, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/164 "2024-10-24T23:43:51Z")
Good Omens will return for a 90 minute finale movie. Neil not directly involved. ---
**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:** [October 25, 2024, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/165 "2024-10-25T01:21:18Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > A collection of links on the topic, seems fairly up-to-date: [Captcha Check](https://muccamukk.dreamwidth.org/1678972.html) A captcha check warning is new to me… but I’m glad for all the cybo-posters here who’ll want to avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![carlb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carlb/32/5930_2.png) [@carlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carlb)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/166 "2025-01-13T13:52:18Z")
Vulture has an article up: > **[There Is No Safe Word](https://www.vulture.com/article/neil-gaiman-allegations-controversy-amanda-palmer-sandman-madoc.html)** > > How the best-selling fantasy author Neil Gaiman hid the darkest parts of himself for decades. If you are at all sensitive to accounts of sexual assault and manipulation, I would encourage you to _not_ read the article. It’s very damning. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2025, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/167 "2025-01-13T14:44:21Z")
Oof! The “It was all consensual BDSM” defense, I would have expected better. Those poor women. Well, at least my existing dislike of Amanda Palmer can continue unabated as well. I was so looking forward to _Sandman_ Season 2, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/168 "2025-01-13T15:30:04Z")
Jesus. I had imagined some bad things, but it was worse. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2025, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/169 "2025-01-13T15:39:24Z")
Can somebody summarize the article? ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/170 "2025-01-13T16:17:30Z")
Gaiman, with what his ex-wife is trying to claim was her unwitting assistance, subjected isolated and highly vulnerable women to rape and sexual degradation, through extortion, gaslighting, manipulation and physical force. He pretended throughout - and still pretends - that these violations were always part of a consensual BDSM relationship. He bribed and bullied his victims into signing NDAs and manipulated them - directly and via confederates - into claiming consent after the fact. This is not a one-off, it’s a persistent pattern of behaviour. He also displayed an absolutely shocking lack of sexual boundaries while in the presence of his child, initiating some of these repellent activities in their presence in a way which has clearly affected the kid. The accounts of the many victims are credible and consistent with known facts and with each other. Gaiman himself was raised by high-level Scientologists, seems to have been abused by his father, and clearly learnt a great deal about manipulation of the vulnerable as he grew up. Which he has used to treat women in ways that however bad you are imagining are worse. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2025, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/171 "2025-01-13T17:09:33Z")
Well, shit. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/172 "2025-01-13T17:16:19Z")
I couldn’t finish the article. I feel ill now. If authors and artists I like could stop being really horrible people, that’d be great. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2025, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/173 "2025-01-13T17:19:28Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I couldn’t finish the article. I feel ill now. Same here. After the first five minutes of reading, I only skimmed the article and was disgusted nonetheless. It’s sickening, and I feel so goddamn bad and sick for liking (having liked?) his work. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/174 "2025-01-13T17:22:11Z")
His work remains amazing. But I won’t want to read it anymore. ---
**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, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/175 "2025-01-13T17:26:13Z")
It’s a classic conundrum to be sure, but, absent that knowledge, it’s not like those works are inherently tied to all the actions of the person who created them. History is littered with artists who created masterpieces yet were not particularly good people otherwise. That said, given what is now known, the choice to provide financial support from now on by buying any new books or watching upcoming TV shows (I think there’s a concluding Good Omens movie and another season of Sandman coming up?) is something I would encourage people to really think about with respect to their own consciences. For my own part, I can’t see anything in the short term that would get me to support him financially. Even in the long term, it would take some real contrition rather than the mealy-mouthed defenses that have been coming up. ---
**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:** [January 13, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/176 "2025-01-13T17:30:02Z")
I still have one of his books on my Kindle I haven’t read yet. I’ve already paid for it, but I don’t think I’ll read it or even buy any other of his books ever again. I couldn’t read him now without always thinking what a horrible person this writer is. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/177 "2025-01-13T17:39:32Z")
I will likely watch _Sandman_ and _Good Omens_ if only because the performances are likely to be good (and to get closure on GO). I also am partway through his Norse mythology book. But i’m not going to buy any more. I still have all my Harry Potter books too, bought long before JKR came out as a transphobic loon. I don’t know if I’ll read them again, and I certainly won’t watch the films. Le sigh. ---
**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, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/178 "2025-01-13T19:06:15Z")
> [@carlb](#): > > Vulture has an article up: Second the request for at least a summary. I won’t do the ‘trial subscription’ nonsense. How authoritative is this anyway? I can’t say I’ve ever noticed anything particularly squicky in his work. Apparently was a good friend of Terry P, who seemed to be a very decent liberal and perceptive fellow, and might have been expected to pick up on anything off-colour? I’m suspecting a smear campaign? At least until I see more evidence? ---
**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 13, 2025, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/179 "2025-01-13T19:17:54Z")
> [@xtenkfarpl](#): > > I’m suspecting a smear campaign? At least until I see more evidence? I think it’s possibly a little late to be hoping for that. It seems like this is quite a lot of independent (but corroborating) allegations. ---
**Author:** ![Pork\_Rind](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pork_rind/32/111_2.png) [@Pork\_Rind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pork_Rind)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781/180 "2025-01-13T19:20:18Z")
Yup. Multiple victims sharing similar stories that had not been in contact prior to sharing their experiences. Plus text and email threads from the time that corroborate key points of the story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neil-gaiman-accused-of-being-serial-sexual-abuser/1003781.md?page=10)