Author of “Coraline” Neil Gaiman accused of sexual harassment and assault by eight women

Award-winning fantasy author Neil Gaiman has been accused of sexual harassment by eight women, one of whom claims she worked as a nanny for his children in 2022, when Gaiman allegedly initiated sex against her will with his 5-year-old son in the room.

The “Coraline” author faced similar allegations in July against five women they told their experiences in the podcast series titled “The Master”. New York Magazine reporter Lila Shapiro spoke to four of these women, as well as four others, for a story published Monday.

Shapiro noted that she searched diary entries, text messages, emails and police correspondence for confirmation her exposé “There is no safe word” — suggesting a pattern of coercion and manipulation over decades.

Scarlett Pavlovich claimed she was 22 when she met Gaiman’s then-wife, singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer, in New Zealand in 2020. After inviting Pavloch to various social events and becoming friends with her, Palmer allegedly asked Pavloch to look after her and Gaiman’s young son.

Pavlovich claims she met Gaiman at their Waiheke home on February 4, 2022, when he allegedly suggested she take a bath in his outdoor clawfoot tub while his son was finishing a date. Pawłowicz claims that she did, and Gaiman joined her naked and asked her to sit on his lap.

“He put his fingers right up my ass and tried to stick his penis up my ass,” Pavlovich told Shapiro. “And I said, ‘No, no.’ He then tried to rub his penis between my breasts and I also said no. Then he asked if he could come on my face and I said no, but he did it anyway. He said, “Call me ‘master’ and I will come.” He said, “Be a good girl.” You’re a good little girl.’”

HuffPost has reached out to Gaiman’s representatives for comment.

Pavlovich claims the misconduct continued during her stay and only worsened; Gaiman allegedly once tried to have anal sex with her using butter as lubricant, then called her a “slave”, ordered her to “clean him up” and remarked, “I had to lick my own shit.”

Pawlowicz claims the abuse was so regular that even Gaiman’s son started calling her “slave” and told her to call him “master.” She told New York Magazine that Gaiman, while babysitting a boy at a hotel, began having sex with her while his son was in the room.

– What the fuck are you doing? According to New York Magazine, Pavlovich recalls him mouthing softly.

One of the women, who asked to be identified only as Caroline, claims she was babysitting Gaiman’s then-4-year-old son in Woodstock, New York, around 2017 when she fell asleep while reading to the boy and Gaiman went to bed, she grabbed her his hand and placed it on his penis.

Caroline claims his business manager offered her $5,000 in December 2021 to sign a non-disclosure agreement, but Gaiman paid her $300,000 when she demanded that much. His representatives told New York Magazine that “she was the one who initiated the sexual contact.”

Gaiman also denied that he “engaged in any sexual activity with her in the presence of her son.”

Kendra Stout was 18 when she met Gaiman at a book signing in Florida and then allegedly had sex with him in his hotel room. She told New York Magazine that during a trip to the British countryside in 2007, he raped her after she repeatedly told him “no.”

The network confirmed that Stout filed a police report against Gaiman last October.

Katherine Kendall was 22 when she first met Gaiman in 2012 and told New York Magazine that despite her previous objections, he attempted to sexually assault her on his tour bus. The outlet confirmed that years later, Gaiman paid her $60,000 for therapy to “make up for the damage.”

The other four women previously recalled similar experiences on the podcast, some of which allegedly took place in the 1990s, such as Gaiman demanding that they call him “master” during sex.

Gaiman, whose acclaimed work has earned him cult fame and has been profitably adapted into numerous award-winning films and television shows, he denied all the allegations against him since the premiere of the “Master” podcast.

His representatives said in a statement at the time he told Variety that “sexual degradation, bondage, domination, sadism and masochism may not be to everyone’s taste, but BDSM is legal between consenting adults.”

Pavlovich told New York Magazine that in January 2023, after signing an NDA and receiving a total of $9,200 in nine separate payments, she filed a report with New Zealand police. When the store contacted police, authorities reportedly said, “Case closed.”

Palmer reportedly refused to speak to police at the time to confirm Pawlowicz’s claims. She is currently in her fifth year of custody and divorce battle with Gaiman.

Need help? Visit RAINN’s National sexual violence hotline or National Sexual Violence Resource Center website.