Surprisingly silent
Bestselling writer Neil Gaiman has strongly denied allegations of “non-consensual sex” and “sexual assault” reported in a Tortoise investigation led by Rachel Johnson.
Neither of Neil Gaiman’s UK publishers ha[s] responded to requests for comment following the reports. The allegations are explored in a four-part podcast, “Master: The Allegations against Neil Gaiman”.
Roz Kaveney, friend of Neil Gaiman since the 1980s, and so, so proud of it, and Laurie Penny, who did a sycophantic interview with Gaiman in 2013, are both surprisingly silent on the recent (horrific) allegations of rape and sadistic violence by him against young, vulnerable women.
We live in interesting times. Women who say men are not women get flayed while men accused of rape and sadistic violence get ignored.
H/t Mostly Cloudy.
Awwww. Another favorite author turns out to be horrible. So depressing
Yes, sad. Brian. As I’ve said, I love Gaiman’s work. I had all “The Sandman” trade paperbacks, and “The Books of Magic” TP as well. I also loved NG’s story “Chivalry” (a humorous take on the King Arthur legends).
If these two allegations against Gaiman are indicative of a wider pattern of behaviour from Gaiman, there will be questions raised about whether Gaiman’s associates knew about this behaviour.
Not only is Gaiman a bestselling author. but several of his works have been adapted for film and television (“Coraline”, “Stardust”, “American Gods”, “The Sandman”, and “Good Omens”.) So there would have been people who would have lost money if this writer had been hit by a damaging scandal.
Here’s a Tumblr post from way back, where Gaiman dismisses “transphobes ” and J. K. Rowling:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210722232315/https://neil-gaiman.tumblr.com/post/657330634903191552/hey-neil-due-to-a-certain-british-author-saying
Also, here’s a news article about Gaiman abandoning his then-wife (rock singer Amanda Palmer) and his son to go to the other side of the planet.
During the COVID lockdowns:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/may/19/neil-gaiman-apologises-skye-breaking-lockdown-rules-new-zealand
So yes, we already knew Gaiman had an issue with boundaries.
Well this is interesting: an old quote from Gaiman:
Followed by a statement by journalist Amy Eileen Hamm:
https://x.com/preta_6/status/1808891448529727866?s=46&t=SPorwN-mokktL467rcZ57g
Sadly, I suspect that highly intelligent sociopaths would be bound to make statements supportive of victims. After all, one of the reasons why it takes so long to unmask them is that they can work out, with mathematical precision, exactly what to say in public in order to create the greatest possible number of allies. They know that they don’t need a large number of victims; just one whom nobody will believe, because everyone else ‘knows’ that he’s one of the Good Guys.
That carefully cultivated reputation for integrity means that they can then plausibly claim that any accusations are false and malicious, and that their accusers are probably sociopaths motivated by greed to accuse innocent men who have told everyone to believe accusations.
However, they just can’t help themselves. After getting away with the abuse for a time, that one, unbelievable, victim eventually becomes two – doubling the thrill, but doubling the risk. And, after several years, there are multiple victims who are eventually bound to learn about the existence of the others – and suddenly they aren’t the ones who are being seen to be liars.
Yes, plus if the man is in the public eye, rumours will start to develop around him. Just like they did with Jimmy Savile and Harvey Weinstein. Privately, women will whisper to each other to “Stay away from that man” or “don’t let yourself be alone with him”.
I don’t know if Gaiman is guilty of illegal acts, but if the accusations are true, then at best Gaiman is a hypocritical, misogynistic user of women, and at worst a violent criminal. Worse is that he went out of his way to create a public image of a decent, kind, self-deprecating man, with impeccable progressive credentials.
Interesting that Neil Gaiman and his ex-wife Amanda Palmer also had an “open marriage”.
https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/celebrity/neil-gaiman-asks-for-privacy-after-wife-amanda-palmer-blogs-about-marriage-trouble-a4431626.html
I wonder was that a genuinely egalitarian arrangement, or more of the man saying “Let me have sex with other women regularly or I will leave you.” The old unfaithful 1950s American husband dressed in modern “woke” clothing?
Modern, woke, English clothing?
Anyway, you are right about the rumours – of course, the public response to such rumours by those who might well know that they are true has always been to besmirch the reputations of the women passing the word, to pre-empt any criticism of the predator. And not even women – girls have also been tarred by the flying monkeys of the predators, so that they won’t be believed. Look at the horrors of Epstein and Rotherham.