Neil Gaiman, the author behind the likes of Stardust, Good Omens, American Gods, and Coraline, has denied claims made against him by a former babysitter
Author Neil Gaiman has claimed his child’s former babysitter is a “fantasist who has fabricated a tale of abuse against me” after he was faced with allegations of sexual assault.
The 64-year-old British author has called for the case against him to be dismissed. Scarlett Pavlovich filed the lawsuit in the US and she is suing for around seven million dollars (£5.6 million). Ms Pavlovich alleged Gaiman sexually assaulted her and claimed his estranged wife, American singer Amanda Palmer, had told her about previous complaints from more than a dozen different women.
The author, who is best known for creating the Stardust, Good Omens, American Gods, and Coraline works, denied the claims. In court documents, he said “none of Pavlovich’s claims are true”. He added: “She is a fantasist who has fabricated a tale of abuse against me and Ms Palmer.”
Gaiman went on to say the “alleged conduct claimed and described in the complaint, all supposedly occurred in New Zealand”, where he was living with his wife prior to Palmer and Gaiman announcing their divorce in 2022. Gaiman said that shortly after Ms Pavlovich was hired to look after his son in February 2022, they engaged in “sexual activity”. He said this was consensual and provided apparent proof to the court in the form of text messages between the pair.
Gaiman also named people who could be called on as witnesses, and attached Ms Pavlovich’s contract which included a “strict confidentiality” clause. The author also claimed she “engaged in a media campaign to publicise her alleged claims before filing the complaint”.
Ms Pavlovich’s lawsuits were filed in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New York. They claim the couple violated laws on federal human trafficking, with complaints of assault, battery and inflicting emotional distress against Gaiman and negligence against Palmer. A police report was made in New Zealand accusing Gaiman of sexual assault in 2023. Officers later dropped the investigation, something which Gaiman has referred to in the filing to the Wisconsin court.
Palmer previously took to Instagram to say she “will not respond to the specific allegations being made against me except to say that I deny the allegations”. She added that her “heart goes out to all survivors”.
Since eight allegations were made against Gaiman in New York Magazine in January, his publisher Dark Horse Comics cancelled another comic book of the Anansi Boys series. The UK stage adaptation of his book Coraline has also been scrapped, and the estate of English author Sir Terry Pratchett removed him from a project funding proposal for a Good Omens comic book.
Netflix revealed in January that a TV series of Gaiman’s dark fantasy work The Sandman, starring British actor Tom Sturridge, is set to end later this year after its second series. Following a Tortoise Media podcast that interviewed five women in July last year, a film of The Graveyard Book has also reportedly been shelved, and the continuation of Good Omens starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen has been said to have been reduced.
Gaiman said he had read the allegations, which he denies. He also said he was “not as thoughtful as I could or should have been” and he is still “learning”. He added: “I’m far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever.”
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