Neil Gaiman has claimed he is the victim of a ‘smear campaign’ after being accused of multiple sexual assault allegations.
The British author, 65, is best known for his works including The Sandman, Good Omens, American Gods and Coraline, all which have been adapted into film and TV projects. He has also sold more than 50 million copies of his books worldwide.
However, in 2024 his career came crashing to a halt after Gaiman was accused of sexual assault and abuse by five women – including the former nanny of his young son with his now estranged wife, musician Amanda Palmer.
Palmer was also accused of negligence and human trafficking. In response, she released a statement addressing ‘this extremely difficult moment’, but denied the allegations.
Meanwhile Gaiman also strenuously denied the claims, saying he’d ‘never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone’.
In the two years since, the former couple have not shared any further statements on the matter, however overnight Gaiman waded back into the allegations made against him.
Returning to the spotlight and posting on his Facebook author page for the first time since the allegations were made, bar a book-related post three months ago, Gaiman claimed that ‘actual evidence was dismissed or ignored’ previously.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything anywhere, but I didn’t want to let any more time go by without thanking everyone for all your kind messages of support over the last year and a half,’ he began the lengthy post.
‘I’ve learned firsthand how effective a smear campaign can be, so to be clear: The allegations against me are completely and simply untrue.
‘There are emails, text messages and video evidence that flatly contradict them.’
He then claimed that the allegations had been ‘spread and amplified by people who seemed a lot more interested in outrage’.
Going on, he wrote: ‘One thing that’s kept me going through all this madness is the conviction that the truth would, eventually, come out.’
Gaiman then said he’d faced a ‘strange, turbulent and occasionally nightmarish year and a half’, but had turned his attention from television to writing.
When the allegations against him first broke, Disney halted production on the film adaptation of The Graveyard Book, while the same month, production on season three of Good Omens was put on hold. Gaiman – who had co-created the series and was an executive producer – went on to leave the show.
He was also left out of press for the final season of Netflix’s The Sandman last year.
Promoting his latest project, Gaiman said it was ‘looking like it’s going to be the biggest thing I’ve done since American Gods’.
He also added that ‘spending half of every month being a full-time Dad remains the best bit of my life’.
Concluding his post, Gaiman wrote: ‘It’s a rough time for the world. I look at what’s happening on the home front and internationally, and I worry; and I am still convinced there are more good people out there than the other kind.
‘Thank you again to so many of you for your belief in my innocence and your support for my work. It has meant the world to me.’
The accusations against Gaiman were first made in the Tortoise Media podcast Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman, in which five women shared their claims against him.
Eight women then accused the author of assault, abuse and coercion in an article published by New York magazine just over a year ago.
Meanwhile Scarlett Pavlovich, Gaiman’s former nanny, filed a lawsuit against him and Palmer last year, in which she accused the couple of human trafficking and said Gaiman repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted her.
In his initial statement denying the allegations, Gaiman had said: ‘Some of the horrible stories now being told simply never happened, while others have been so distorted from what actually took place that they bear no relationship to reality.
‘I am prepared to take responsibility for any missteps I made. I’m not willing to turn my back on the truth, and I can’t accept being described as someone I am not and cannot and will not admit to doing things I didn’t do.’
The day after the New York magazine article was released, Gaiman then shared he ‘could have and should have done so much better’ and admitted he was ‘obviously careless with people’s hearts and feelings, and that’s something that I really, deeply regret’. ‘It was selfish of me. I was caught up in my own story and I ignored other people’s,’ he added.
But when Pavlovich launched her legal action, he called her a ‘fantasist’ who had ‘fabricated tales’ against Gaiman and Palmer.
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