Neil Gaiman Denies Sexual Assault Allegations Made by Two Women

Neil Gaiman — the bestselling author whose work includes the comic book series The Sandman and the novels Good Omens and American Gods — has denied sexual assault allegations made against him by two women with whom he had relationships with at the time, Tortoise Media reports.

The allegations were made during Tortoise’s four-part podcast Master: the Allegations Against Neil Gaiman, which was released Wednesday. In it, the women allege “rough and degrading sex” with the author, which the women claim was not always consensual.

One of the women, a 23-year-old named Scarlett, worked as a nanny to his child. She claimed Gaiman assaulted her in February 2022, just hours after they had first met, while in a bath at his New Zealand home. Gaiman told the outlet that he and Scarlett “cuddled” and “made out” in the bath and that it was consensual; he added that in the three-week sexual relationship they were in, they only engaged in digital penetration.

Scarlett claims that while they were in a consensual relationship, Gaiman also sexually assaulted her with nonconsensual “rough and degrading penetrative sexual acts” per the outlet’s description in its investigation. In one incident, the pain “was so painful and so violent” that she lost consciousness. “The pain was celestial,” she said. When she asked him to stop, “he laughed and said I needed to be punished and used his belt on me,” she said on the podcast, via The Telegraph. Gaiman denied the allegation to Tortoise.

Leave a Comment