‘Sandman’ author accused of sexual assault

Several women have accused “The Sandman” and “Coraline” author Neil Gaiman of sexual assault in a New York Magazine cover story where they talk on the record about their experiences.

Back in July, Tortoise Media broke the news that Gaiman had been accused of sexual assault by two women and released a six-part podcast, “Master,” which covered the allegations by five women. But several of the women had used only their first names or pseudonyms to protect their identities, and a major news organization had yet to confirm the full extent of the reporting — until now.

In the New York Magazine piece titled “There Is No Safe Word,” reporter Lila Shapiro spoke with eight women who had similar experiences with Gaiman, four of whom also participated in Tortoise’s podcast. One of those women, Scarlett Pavlovich, was 22 when she first met Gaiman’s ex-wife, Amanda Palmer, in New Zealand. They struck up a friendship before Palmer asked Pavlovich to help babysit her and Gaiman’s 5-year-old child. Pavlovich said the first time she met Gaiman, while he was waiting for the child to finish a play date, he offered her a bath in a claw-foot tub in his yard. She claims he then joined her in the bathtub naked, asked her to sit on his lap and sexually assaulted her.

“He stuck his fingers right into my ass and tried to put his penis in my ass. And I said, ‘No, no.’ Then he tried to rub his penis between my breasts and I said ‘no’ too. Then he asked if he could come on my face and I said ‘no’ but he did anyway,” Pavlovich told New York Mag. “He said, ‘Call me ‘master’ and I will come.’ He said, ‘Be a good girl. You are a good little girl.”

Pavlovich claims this continued for the rest of the time she babysat for the family, including one instance where he allegedly tried to have anal sex with her using butter as a lubricant.

“When it was over, he called her ‘slave’ and ordered her to ‘clean him up,'” the article reports. “She protested that it was not hygienic. “He said, ‘Are you defying your master?'” she recalls. “I had to lick my own shit.”

Representatives for Gaiman told the Tortoise podcast that “sexual degradation, bondage, domination, sadism and masochism may not be to everyone’s taste, but between consenting adults, BDSM is legal.” Although the New York Magazine article states that all of the accusers had at some point played along by calling him “master” as he wished and continued to communicate with him, the women claim that consent and specific BDSM activities had not been discussed and agreed upon. before they happen.

At another time, Gaiman was staying with his son in an Auckland hotel and asked Pavlovich to watch the child while he got a massage. She claims he then proceeded to have sex with her while his son was in the room and continued to talk to him during the act. Pavlovich says she asked Gaiman, “What the hell are you doing?” and was in a “state of shock” during the incident.

Gaiman has vehemently denied all allegations against him since the Tortoise podcast came out, claiming all relationships were consensual. In a statement responding to Pavlovich’s claim about the hotel room incident, his representatives called it “false, not to mention deplorable.” Gaiman’s reps did not immediately respond Black‘s request for additional comment on the New York Magazine piece.

However, Pavlovich remained in contact with Gaiman after that point, even assuring him at one point that their interactions had been consensual. Eventually, she agreed to sign an NDA and was paid a total of $9,200 in nine separate payments, according to NY Mag. In January 2023, she filed a police report accusing him of sexual assault, but “the case is now closed,” a police spokesperson told NY Mag.

Caroline, who chose to be identified only by her first name, also signed an NDA after her experience with Gaiman. She worked as a caretaker and sometimes babysat at Gaiman’s estate in Woodstock, NY, and the two began a physical relationship after her husband left her in December 2017.

According to NY Mag, Caroline once fell asleep reading stories to the child in Gaiman’s bed. When he returned, “he got into bed with his son in the middle and then reached over the child to grab Caroline’s hand and place it on his penis,” the NY Mag story reads. Caroline says she jumped out of bed. “He had no boundaries,” Caroline told NY Mag. “I remember thinking there was something really wrong with him.”

In December 2021, Caroline claims Gaiman’s business manager offered her $5,000 to sign an NDA and move from the property. She asked for a much higher amount — $300,000 — to which Gaiman agreed. His representatives told NY Mag that “Caroline initiated the sexual encounters” and denied “that he engaged in any sexual activity with her in the presence of his son.”

Another accuser is Kendra Stout, who was 18 years old when she first met Gaiman at a book signing in Florida. Their relationship turned physical about three years later, and in 2007 she claims he raped her during a trip to the Cornish countryside after she repeatedly told him “no” because of a bad urinary tract infection. Stout filed a police report in October, according to NY Mag.

Katherine Kendall, who was 22 when she first met Gaiman in 2012, also spoke out, alleging Gaiman tried to assault her on his tour bus after she told him she didn’t want to have sex with him. New York Magazine reports that years later he gave her $60,000 in therapy to — as he put it in a recorded phone call — “make up for the damage.”

As the NY Mag article says, several of Gaiman’s film and TV projects have been affected since Tortoise’s bombshell report in July. Season 3 of Prime Video’s “Good Omens” now ends with a 90-minute episode, with Gaiman not part of the production. Disney halted production on its adaptation of “The Graveyard Book,” and Netflix canceled “Dead Boy Detectives,” though it’s unclear if that was related to the allegations. However, “The Sandman” Season 2 is still expected to be released this year on Netflix, in addition to Prime Video’s “Anansi Boys” series adaptation (Netflix and Prime Video did not immediately respond to Black‘s request for comment on the status of these shows).