Neil Gaiman accused of being serial sexual abuser

[Miller]

@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.

[Wendell_Wagner]

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?

[Chronos]

@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.

[DSeid]

@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.

[kenobi_65]

@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.

[The_Other_Waldo_Pepper]

@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.”

[Jas09]

@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.