Sandman author Neil Gaiman accused of sexual misconduct

Last year, the 64-year-old author, whose books "Good Omens", "American Gods" and "The Sandman" have turned into popular TV shows, was accused of sexual abuse by four women during a Tortoise Media podcast "Master". Gaiman had denied the accusations at the time.

One of the accusers, Scarlett Pavlovich, told New York Magazine she met Gaiman through his then-wife Amanda Palmer on a New Zealand island where the couple lived with their son in 2022.

She recalled being sexually assaulted by Gaiman in February 2022 in a backyard bathtub. She also accused the author of assaulting her under the blankets on a hotel room bed while his son played with an iPad in the same room. According to the report, most of the women Gaiman allegedly abused were in their 20s, with the youngest at the age of 18. The author was in his 40s or older at that time.

Six women who spoke to New York Magazine on record said they had been in a consensual sexual relationship with the author at points but claimed he preferred rough sex and BDSM activities that they had not always consented to beforehand.

The two women who had worked for the author said they felt coerced within the relationship as they worked for Gaiman and lived on his property. In a statement, posted on his official website, Gaiman denied all allegations against him and said he has "never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever.

"As I read through this latest collection of accounts, there are moments I half-recognise and moments I don't, descriptions of things that happened sitting beside things that emphatically did not happen. I'm far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever...

"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," he said.

Gaiman said he is prepared to take responsibility for "any missteps I made" but won't turn my back on the truth. "I can't accept being described as someone I am not, and cannot and will not admit to doing things I didn't do," he said.

The British-born said he had read the allegations circulating the internet about him over the past several months with horror and dismay.

"I've always tried to be a private person, and felt increasingly that social media was the wrong place to talk about important personal matters. I've now reached the point where I feel that I should say something," he said.

The author said he went back and read the messages he exchanged with the women who have accused him of "being abusive". "These messages read now as they did when I received them of two people enjoying entirely consensual sexual relationships and wanting to see one another again. At the time I was in those relationships, they seemed positive and happy on both sides.

"And I also realise, looking through them, years later, that I could have and should have done so much better. I was emotionally unavailable while being sexually available, self-focused and not as thoughtful as I could or should have been. I 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 said.

Gaiman said he is trying to do the work needed and hopes to grow with the help of people. "I understand that not everyone will believe me or even care what I say but I'll be doing the work anyway, for myself, my family and the people I love. I will be doing my very best to deserve their trust, as well as the trust of my readers," the author said.