Extra sexual assault allegations in opposition to Neil Gaiman have seen J.Okay. Rowling in the present day supply a chilling and insightful comparability for the Sandman author.
Not lengthy after New York Magazine’s detailed cowl story on a number of new and previous claims in opposition to Gaiman by a number of ladies dropped, the Harry Potter creator took to social media to offer some opinionated context of her personal. No stranger to controversy, criticism and accusations of being transphobic from her strident views on gender identification and the transitioning of minors, Rowling pinned preliminary reactions to allegations in opposition to the as soon as acclaimed Gaiman to incarcerated rapist Harvey Weinstein and the #MeToo outburst in opposition to the much-accused Pulp Fiction producer.
“The literary crowd that had a hell of lots to say about Harvey Weinstein earlier than he was convicted has been unusually muted in its response to a number of accusations in opposition to Neil Gaiman from younger ladies who’d by no means met, but – as with Weinstein – inform remarkably related tales,” Rowling wrote this morning on X within the second of two missives on Gaiman.
Much like Weinstein, Gaiman has not solely been incriminated for assaults on ladies, but additionally of utilizing NDAs and payoffs to silence the alleged victims. Additionally, like Weinstein, in addition to Invoice Cosby, Danny Masterson and others who’ve confronted justice over the previous few years for rape and assault, the studies from unassociated ladies about Gaiman seem to disclose a duplicated M.O.
Constructing on info and parts initially put forth final summer season in Tortoise Media’s six-part podcast ‘Grasp: the allegations in opposition to Neil Gaiman,’ New York Magazine’s usually express “There Is No Protected Phrase” by Lila Shapiro spoke to eight ladies in whole, three who had by no means gone public. The alleged assaults, a few of that are mentioned to have occurred with Gaiman’s son close by, in opposition to ladies of their late teenagers to early twenties passed off within the a lot older Gaiman’s upstate Empire State residence. Different incidents occurred in New Zealand when he, then partner and Dresden Doll member Amanda Palmer and their youngster have been underneath Covid lockdown.
Calling earlier accusations consensual and denying any assaults, the CAA-repped Gaiman has not addressed the brand new claims, that are sophisticated within the eyes of some by the NDAs and obvious on-going communications with the creator by a number of of the ladies.
Each Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have tasks with the award successful Gaiman, equivalent to a second season of Sandman and the now 90-minute finale episode of Good Omens. Whereas Gaiman stepped again from showrunning Good Omens final September as the primary spherical of allegations in opposition to him emerged, neither streamer have responded Monday to requests from Deadline for touch upon the brand new claims in opposition to the creator/producer. If, both of them do get again to us, this put up shall be up to date.
At the moment underneath medical supervision awaiting a brand new East Coast felony trial on a number of intercourse crimes, Weinstein was rapidly shunned and condemned by the trade after a late 2017 New York Occasions expose on the many years of abuse and rape he had inflicted upon younger ladies out and in of Hollywood. Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in jail after a jury in Manhattan discovered the previous studio chief responsible in 2020 of raping actress Jessica Mann and sexually assaulting manufacturing assistant Miriam Haley. A panel of New York appeals court docket judges threw out the conviction in April final yr, ruling 4-3 that prosecutors had erred by permitting the testimony of different Weinstein accusers whose claims weren’t being tried.
Convicted on intercourse crimes in LA on 2022 and sentenced to 16-years, the stil imprisoned Weinstein faces a lot of civil trials on each coasts. Final reported to be affected by leukemia and suing the state of New York for $5 million over so-called “deplorable situations” at Rikers Island jail (it’s a jail buddy), Weinstein has not but seen a brand new East Coast trial date set.
Partially the unspecified calendar is because of the Manhattan District Lawyer’s workplace indicating additional indictments are coming in opposition to Weinstein. No costs have been made in opposition to Gaiman by authorities within the US, New Zealand or the American Gods scribe’s native UK as of but.
Full disclosure: New York Magazine is owned by Vox Media, which Deadline’s dad or mum firm PMC has had an possession stake in since 2023.
