Details Emerge Of The Neil Gaiman Allegations Suggesting 14 Women Have Been Abused And Alleges He Forced A Victim To Sign An NDA Under Duress

The Neil Gaiman sexual assault accusations have set the internet abuzz despite mainstream comic book media like Bleeding Cool and Comics Beat largely covering it up by their silence on the matter. The message is clear from the comic industry—Neil Gaiman is too big to fail. However, details have come to light from the accusations via the Tortoise podcast, making the situation even creepier than when it was first reported.

The Sandman creator has been accused of sexual assault by two women, one who was allegedly under his employ as a nanny/babysitter and a second who was a fan of his who met him at a book signing. Both women were significantly younger than him, and the timing of the nanny accusation appears to coincide with Amanda Palmer’s split from the writer when he fled New Zealand during the pandemic lockdowns after a very public announcement from The Dresden Dolls singer about her breakup with Neil Gaiman. 

Many people don’t know the details of the accusations. The Tortoise podcast interviewed the women involved extensively. Reddit user DubiousPeoplePleaser posted a summary that sheds some light on the situation and makes it look far worse for Neil Gaiman. The summary is as follows:

-              Scarlett randomly meets Amanda Palmer. They become friends and do favors for each other. Scarlett has been to her home and is used to Amanda being naked. She had never met Gaiman during this time.  

-              After a year Amanda calls Scarlett and ask her to babysit her and Gaiman’s son. It goes well and the same day and agreement is made where Scarlett will be a kind of live in babysitter while doing light house work, helping both parents. No written contract is made.  

-              Scarlett goes to the island and Gaiman’s house. The son is at a play date. After some hours he ask if she wants a bath. She says she thought it was for her. He says it was for both. They both agree about the sexual acts and him fingering her anally. She says she was not attracted to him and that he crossed boundaries. He says he had every reason to think he had consent. They then went to get the son and Scarlett staid the night at Amanda’s.  

-              She has text from the day about boarders crossed that she sent to a friend. There is also text between Scarlett and Gaiman about what a lovely time they had and her thanking him. They make arrangement for her work the next day.  

-              The next day she says he anally penetrated her using butter as lube, no condom and without her consent. In a text to a friend she describes it as rough but kind of amazing. He says there was only fingering because she was inexperienced, and that she showed an interest in bdsm.  

-              She makes a delivery to a hotel he is staying at. She says it quickly turned into sex where she didn’t have time to consent, and that there was penetration. She also say “He put his hand around my mouth”. He says very little about it except there was “cuddling under the covers”. It ended up with her staying. It is also mentioned that she didn’t have any money to leave. She says he pissed on his hand and made her clean it. Made her vomit. Wanted oral after anal to clean him. He claims there was no full penetration.  

-              The relationship lasted three weeks where she describes passing out from pain and him laughing. Bleeding. Her asking him to stop, but him continuing to punish her and using a belt.   

-              Gaiman leaves the country. She feels lost. She tells Amanda (we do not get specifics of what she told), and she says Amanda mentioned there were 13 other women with the same story.   

-              Scarlett goes to her friend Misma and her bf Chris. Chris lectures about coercion at Uni. They tell her he is using her and introduce her to Paulette, a specialist in sexual violence. Paulette says she was groomed. Gaiman feels these three has influenced Scarlett’s perception of events. Misma sends Amanda an angry note where mentions that Scarlett passed out the first time he penetrated her. Amanda replies that she did not know this. There is also mention that Scarlett had not been paid, but no mention of who was going to pay her for her work. Amanda, Gaiman or both.  

-              Scarlett is still sending messages to Gaiman about how much she misses him and wants to have rough sex with him. The reported says that Scarlett comes off as besotted. And briefly addresses if Gaiman had reason to think he had consent. Scarlett’s messages contains things about her asking for spanking, that she is dirty and perverted. His messages (according to the reporter) comes off as affectionate.   

-              Two weeks after Mismas note, Scarlett casually sends Gaiman a message. He has learned of her allegations to Amanda and tells her he contemplated ending himself and that he is worried. She dismisses any me too claims and says she never said she was raped. In her messages to Gaiman she says she told Amanda that it began questionably, but was eventually consensual. He says he regrets not asking her about what she meant. He asks her to talk to his therapist.   

-              2 days later Gaiman contacts Scarlett about the note from Misma. Scarlett responds with the sex being consensual and “how many times do I have to tell everyone.”    

-              Amanda leaves the country and Scarlett feels even more lost. She has thoughts of ending herself and end up in the hospital. Her medical records show no problems with reality, which is what Gaiman is claiming. While in the hospital Gaiman and her are in contact. He encourages her and say they need to stay alive together. Baiting her to stay alive with promises of meeting Fiona Shore and arranging a message from Fiona.   

-              Scarlett gets out. Gaiman offers to pay her rent for 6 months while she recovers. There’s also talk of £175 a week, but unclear if it’s outside the rent. Scarlett reaches out to another former employee to see if she had any similar experiences. She also reaches out to Amanda.   

-              Gaiman’s artery reaches out with an NDA. Scarlett feels she is forced to sign it in order to get her rent. It is backdated to that first night. She reaches out to that former employee again. Former asks about the NDA.   

-              She reports it to the police. Later messages Gaiman about his return to NZ. She is interviewed by the police. Gaiman sends her a text asking if she is okay. She does not respond and there has been no further messages.   

-              Scarlett talks to Zelda Perkins, a person outspoken about the use of NDA in abuse cases. Zelda wants her to report him. Scarlett already has. Scarlett now sees the NDA as part of the abuse. Police has not pressed any charges, say the case would not stand up in court and Gaiman was not interviewed. Gaiman say that he offered his full cooperation to the police. Police did not interview Amanda, stating that she was not present during the alleged assaults. 

-              Scarlett then contacts Rachel, the reporter in the podcast.   

The big takeaway from the podcast details is that Amanda Palmer allegedly told Scarlett there were a total of 14 women with similar stories to her involving sexual misconduct with Neil Gaiman, which makes matters far worse for the writer if these come out. Secondly, Scarlett alleges that Neil Gaiman threatened to kill himself and then forced her to sign an NDA about her experiences under duress. 

The Tortoise podcast has reported they’ve seen text messages from Scarlett at the time to her friends about the situation, which validate her claims, so it does not appear to be made up after the fact, but this is an extremely dark turn of events for Neil Gaiman with the details coming out.

Neither Amanda Palmer nor Neil Gaiman has made a statement yet to be confirmed, but Gaiman was interviewed by Tortoise and, at the very least, has admitted to cuddling in the bathtub with Scarlett.

What do you think of the details of the Neil Gaiman allegations? Leave a comment and let us know, and restack this post so more people can see our journalism!