#Neil Gaiman is a serial rapist

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

If there are implicit or explicit consequences for saying no to sex, such as losing your job, or housing, then yes simply isn't a real yes.

This means that if a landlord "has sex with" his tenant, it's rape.

It means if an employer "has sex with" his employee, that's rape.

And it means that if a man "has sex with" his employee who is also his tenant, as Neil Gaiman has admitted to doing with two separate women, that is most certainly rape. Add onto that the emotional upset and extreme financial vulnerability both of them were dealing with, the youth of the one, and the fact the other had three children, and there's just no way that this was consensual at all.

This is literally if you don't believe a word they say and only take his side of the story at face value.

If you do listen to them, then you add on the fact that Gaiman undressed himself and got into a bathtub with the nanny he'd met only hours prior and assaulted her there. You add on the fact that he coerced a mother of three into blowing him or being evicted (and when she stopped responding to his sexually explicit messages, he did indeed evict her and her children). You add on the very young female fan who alleges he raped her. You add on the extreme age difference between him and that young woman, and between him and the nanny. You add on that he made them sign NDAs. You add on his enjoyment of violence against them. You add on the other young woman who alleges he forcibly kissed her. You add on that these women have no relation to one another and that these allegations span decades.

The only reasonable conclusion that can be drawn if you don't completely hate women is that at best, Neil Gaiman is an opportunistic and careless rapist. He is blind to power dynamics, refuses to take responsibility, and is therefore unsafe to be around any women or girls. Especially those who are particularly vulnerable or under his direct power. At worst, he is a calculating and manipulative rapist who directly engineers situations so that women will be uniquely vulnerable to him and then he takes full advantage.

Which kind of rapist he is depends on whose side you believe: theirs or his. But he's a rapist regardless and deserves jail at the very least, and I wouldn't be sad to learn he died (I'd rejoice). Personally, for every woman who comes forward, I'm suspecting there are several more, and while victims in general do often get some details confused or panic and add/remove certain parts of the story for fear of not being believed, I'm going to hold their word as far more credible than his.

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

It's now three women he raped, forcibly kissed a fourth, and there are likely a lot more. But, you know, JKR said things.

Congratulations, Neil Gaiman, now you managed to be as bad as JKR.

[darklinaforever]

You think Neil Gaiman, a serial rapist, is going to make a good tv show while he’s currently preparing for court?

Why am I only getting bad news this weekend ?!

I was not aware of these accusations. I just did my research and it appears to be two accusations.

On the other hand, there is still what we call the presumption of innocence, so until this matter is over, let's avoid insulting Neil Gaiman from Serial Rapist.

I will continue to learn about this case and until I don't learn more about it, and that a verdict is not officially pronounced I will certainly remain neutral, as I always do in these cases.

Anyway, I was basically talking about the fact that Neil Gaiman managed to get The Sandman renewed by Netflix despite everything. So who knows, maybe he negotiated with Netflix before these accusations came out ? That doesn't change anything about my basic point.

In any case, even if he is found guilty, we will never be able to erase (and we should never in my opinion) the fact that he wrote great works and participated in great shows.

[andythecorsair]

Putting Rowling in the same league as a serial rapist is sick

And yet they're equally cancelled and, according to some, she is responsible for much bad feeling towards trans people that has reportedly resulted in violence, self-harm, and deaths.

You may believe that or not, but my point about making one's own decisions about the ways her actions have retroactively affected her work remains the same as what I said about Neil Gaiman. I wasn't putting them in the same category at all, other than to say that the effect on the reader is the same.

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

So is this five who've spoken now? I'm sure there are more. Let this guy rot in prison like Danny Masterson.

So, regarding the latest Tortoise Media podcast episode about the allegations about Neil Gaiman, I was considering doing another write up. The podcast contains audio recorded from a phone call between Claire and Gaiman.

However, I do not have the mental capacity for that right now. Also, the episode focuses upon Claire's story as first discussed on the Am I Broken podcast, which I've already written up.

Thankfully, Paul Caruana Galizia (the journalist involved with the podcast) wrote a thread containing most of the main additional details.

CW: gaslighting, victim blaming, mentions of SA, using autism as an excuse for abusive behaviour

I'm adding screenshots here too. One thing addressed in the podcast is Gaiman trying to explain away his behaviour as due to being autistic.

I'm autistic and was actually quite pleased with how they handled this element - that they swiftly dismissed it being used as an excuse. They emphasised how autistic people are statistically far more likely to be the victims of assault and abuse than perpetrators in any sense. The hosts also highlighted how, due to the barriers autistic people face with social interactions, we are often much more cautious about initiating anything, treading carefully in new situations because of previous bad experiences.

Not, for example, trying to snog a person you've just met.

There's also a mention near the beginning of Claire's story about how she first met Amanda Palmer. Claire mentioned she was seeing Gaiman soon at a signing and did Palmer want her to pass a message on. According to Claire, Palmer put her arms around Claire's neck and whispered something about nibbling on his ear.

Boundaries seem to be things that Palmer and Gaiman are aware of, yet keep stepping over...

Anyway, screenshots of the twitter thread beneath the cut:

[colorisbyshe]

if you want to know how the good omens fandom is dealing with the show getting a 90 minute finale instead of a full season because neil gaiman got outed as a serial rapist, uh, some of them are now spreading around a petition (lol) to get the full season back

very normal people with very normal priorities in life

[nebty]

Wow I hate it here.

At this point Good Omens getting cancelled once and for all will be worth it if I never have to read another mealy-mouthed excuse for Neil Gaiman Serial Rapist’s disgusting actions ever again.

[recoord]

The importance of the allegations against Neil Gaiman being public

Claire on the podcast: Am I Broken: Survivor Stories.

S4 Ep2 - Claire "I Ignored It and I Believed Him Because He's the Storyteller [Neil Gaiman]"

"There are a few reasons why I'm coming forward now. And honestly, most of them have to do with how things went that first time that I tried. Um, that was back in 2019 that I first tried to share my story, and I reached out to a handful of journalists and I had several conversations off the record, but... Yeah, that message I got, across the board, was pretty much that what happened to me wasn't enough to establish a pattern of behavior. Because I was just one person, and back then everyone was looking for a serial rapist, right, like not one-off creeps."

"So when the journalist said what happened to you isn't enough to establish a pattern of behavior, what I heard, of course, was that what happened to you wasn't enough. And I was really shaken by that experience."

"It turns out – I wasn't the only one. Uh, three weeks ago from the date of this recording, uh, two other women came forward with allegations against him of rape and sexual assault. And one is – was in 2002, and the second in 2022. So my experience falls right in the middle of that, in 2012, and – that's a pattern! So, I decided to come forward, and ... knowing what I know now, I – I wish I'd come forward sooner, like I – no – (sigh) it just – it broke my heart hearing how one of the victims, Scarlett, had been googling "neil gaiman sexual assault" when she was trying to piece together what had happened to her, because I did the same thing! For years!"

"I was – I felt so alone, back then, and I don't want any of his victims to feel that way ever again. So, I'm sharing my experience, in solidarity, to support those women who've come forward and the people who will, and the people who can't. And... I'm also doing this for myself, as a... continuation of my healing. And I've never told my story so completely before. And... I'm choosing to do that through this podcast, because in this space, unlike in most spaces, it's not about him. It's about me, and my story."

Credits for the transcript to ErsatzHaderach Thanks a lot!

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

Small correction: the tenant he raped was in her fifties, but uniquely vulnerable as a divorced mother of three whose only income was also through Gaiman. That's what he's attracted to in women. Extreme vulnerability, whether because they're very young, under his direct power, or suffering emotional upset. And it's often a combination of those things.

the neil gaiman defenders on this website horrify me because he targeted young female fans and young female employees and young female tenants and practically any young women whom he had any form of influence and power over. that’s you. that’s most of you. young and broke and precariously employed and his fans. that man whom you still see as some kind of online bestie only ever saw you as potential prey to exploit and discard. if most of you ever met him in person the first thing he’d think of is how he can rape you and you’re defending him.

[blackswallowtailbutterfly]

I hope Neil Gaiman knows that even if the extremely flawed justice system finds him not-guilty and he decides to rear his ugly head back here, at least one corner of this site is not letting it go. He's a rapist by his own admission of what happened.

[grumpy-gran]

Reactions from the SFF community

Have there been many? [Just been swimming the internet void to track them for my own sanity (?) as I hyperfixate on this issue and its lack of coverage.] Here are the two I know of:

John Scalzi -

"I learned about the sexual assault allegations involving Neil Gaiman at the same time as everybody else. I don’t know any more about it than anyone else. Everything I have read about it to this point makes me angry and unhappy and sad. I understand there are people who want a different public statement from me about this than Gaaaah what the actual fuck. Maybe those people are better at processing bad news involving a friend. In any event, money is off to RAINN."

And then there's Monica Byrne, who has been engaging with the topic on Twt pretty regularly:

"I’m still reconciling the fact that someone I knew as a kindly, bumbling, absent-minded older author friend is actually a sadistic serial rapist of young women. It is honestly very hard to reconcile. But I don’t use that as an excuse to not believe them."

Admittedly, I am not tuned into the SFF community at all, so I may have missed a few. Feel free to make note of them.

[lesb0]

We need to bully that stupid bitch emerald fennell how dare she have a career and make creative choices and FUCK Margot Robbie she has the mean girl archetype. Btw I have literally nothing to say against Neil Gaiman or other serial rapists who make movies, just hating on women here

[kutputli]

Focussing on the merits and demerits of the art and whether to consume or not also distracts from the very real solidarity that all fans can demonstrate with the victims - deplatforming the abuser.

"Don't like don't read" works fine for a book you think has misogynistic themes - you can write a scathing goodreads review but you aren't going to write to the publisher.

But fans absolutely should be writing to publishers and streamers and con organisers and university employers and saying strongly that we don't want a rapist in those spaces. Because Neil Gaiman used the status of those spaces to lure and bribe the people he abused.

It's not the quality of our literary critique that will help people here, its the commitment to community accountability.

I’m so tired of posts about how the OP never liked the thing made by [creator who turned out to be an awful person], they always knew it was mediocre, and now, aha, vindication.

This isn’t just about JKR, for the record; the specific instance that set it off was about someone else, though of course I’ve seen it with HP. 

It redirects the conversation onto the quality of the creation, and the quality does not matter. 

Keep reading

[incorrectquoteswwdits]

even more allegations, making FIVE that we know of.

Guy is a fucking monster and he shouldn’t be allowed to ever have a good day ever again.

@staff can’t you do anything about @neil-gaiman at all? I know we don’t have specific posts or evidence of him using tumblr for anything against its TOS, but he’s a known serial sexual predator, abuser, and rapist who preys on young women, who tend to be the primary demographic of this site.

He should be banned and his blog should be terminated! He shouldn’t be allowed to remain on this site at all, even if he’s not active/lurking in the background.

terribly sorry for his victims, I’m sure there are definitely more now. It breaks my heart knowing that so many kept it in for so long, and apparently that so many people KNEW that he was at best, creepy this entire time.

[this-is-a-podcast-fanblog]

neil gaiman was revealed to be a serial rapist and you guys are on here patting each other on the back for enjoying good omens and saying "well there's not definitive proof yet" i hate you all so much

[problematic-polls]

Did you know that Neil Gaiman has written explicit sexual scenes about child characters, as well as defended cp?

(Snow, Glass, Apples and The Problem of Susan)

(Wrote an essay in the 2000s about how freedom of expression needs to include cp)

Yes

I do now

Freedom of expression includes cruelly and creatively punishing him

Who is Neil Gaiman? (he is a serial rapist and popular author)