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WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
Multiple women have accused author Neil Gaiman of sexual assault, speaking on the record about their alleged experiences.
The bombshell report published on Jan. 13 in New York Magazine follows previous allegations from last summer when Tortoise Media reported that the Coraline author had been accused of sexual assault by two women, and released a six-part podcast called Master, which centred on the allegations of five women.
At the time, several of the women only used their first names or pseudonyms to protect their identities; this latest report, titled “There Is No Safe Word,” is different.
Scarlett Pavlovich, a former babysitter for Gaiman and his ex-wife Amanda Palmer, told writer Lila Shapiro that she and Palmer were friends before the latter asked the then-22-year-old to babysit her and Gaiman’s son at his Waiheke Island home in New Zealand.
(The couple, who were married from 2011 to 2022, was separated at the time.)
Pavlovich alleged that she and Gaiman were alone in the house as they waited for his son to end a playdate.
The acclaimed novelist suggested that Pavlovich take a bath in his outdoor tub before he joined her, naked, asked her to sit on his lap, then sexually assaulted her, despite telling him no.
“He put his fingers straight into my a** and tried to put his penis in my a**. And I said, ‘No, no’” she detailed to the magazine.
Gaiman then allegedly “tried to rub his penis between my breasts,” and ejaculated on her face.
“He said, ‘Call me ‘master,’ and I’ll come.’ He said, ‘Be a good girl. You’re a good little girl.’”
Pavlovich claimed that throughout her time working as a babysitter for the family, Gaiman continued to assault her, including one instance where he allegedly attempted to have anal sex with her using butter as lubricant.
The alleged victim also noted how Gaiman’s son began to address her as a “slave” and ordered her to call him “master.”
There was another time when Gaiman allegedly had sex with Pavlovich while the boy was still in the room, even continuing to talk with the child during the act.
Pavlovich agreed to sign an NDA and, according to the report, was paid a total of $9,200 in nine separate payments.
Another woman, Caroline, who wanted to be identified only by her first name, worked as a caretaker on Gaiman’s Woodstock, N.Y. property and sometimes babysat the author’s son.
The two began a physical relationship after her husband split in December 2017.
Caroline recalled one evening falling asleep reading to Gaiman’s son when the writer “got into bed with his son in the middle, then reached across the child to grab Caroline’s hand and put it on his penis,” according to the magazine.
“He didn’t have boundaries,” she told NY Mag. “I remember thinking that there was something really wrong with him.”
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Caroline claimed Gaiman’s business manager offered her $5,000 to sign an NDA and move off the property.
She countered, asking for a significantly higher sum — $300,000 — to which Gaiman agreed.
Other women spoke about Gaiman, including Kendra Stout, who met the author at a book signing in Florida when she was 18.
Their relationship turned physical about three years later and in 2007, Stout alleged that Gaiman raped her after she repeatedly told him “no” due to a UTI.
Katherine Kendall, who met Gaiman in 2012 when she was 22, accused the Good Omens creator of trying to have sex with her on his tour bus.
He reportedly gave Kendall $60,000 afterwards for her to get therapy to “make up for the damage.”
Gaiman has denied all the allegations, maintaining that all sexual encounters were consensual.