Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer sued for rape and human trafficking of babysitter

On Monday (February 3), a lawsuit accused author Neil Gaiman of sexually assaulting his former babysitter, whose claims were featured in both a 2024 podcast and article by New York Magazine last month.

The suit also accuses Gaiman’s former wife, musician Amanda Palmer, of human trafficking. She and Gaiman, known for his many successful novels including Good Omens and The Sandman, which were turned into popular TV shows, were married in 2011 before separating in 2022.

Scarlett Pavlovich filed the suit against Gaiman and Palmer. She worked for the pair as a live-in nanny to their children, and alleges that Gaiman raped her on multiple occasions while she was working for him. Pavlovich is is named in this article due to identifying herself in a New York Magazine piece last month.

The lawsuit opens with the statement: “This claim arises out of Defendant Neil Gaiman’s sexual abuse of Plaintiff, and his wife Amanda Palmer’s role in procuring and presenting Plaintiff to Gaiman for such abuse”.

Elsewhere in the suit, it alleges that “Gaiman engaged in many nonconsensual sex acts with Scarlett,” adding: “Those acts were abusive and demeaning… Scarlett endured those acts because she would lose her job, housing, and promised future career support if she did not”.

Pavlovich’s accusations were also part of a January article by New York Magazine. Titled There Is No Safe Word, the piece includes comments from multiple women who accuse the writer of inappropriate and abusive behaviour. It also questions his former wife Amanda Palmer about her knowledge of his alleged actions.

Representatives for Neil Gaiman did not respond to NME’s request for comment on the article, and NME has reached out again following the lawsuit being filed.

While he did not respond to comment, Gaiman published a post on January 14 via his website denying the accusations. He wrote: “I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever”. He later added: “Some of the horrible stories now being told simply never happened, while others have been so distorted from what actually took place that they bear no relationship to reality”.

Replying to NME’s request for comment on the article, a representative for Palmer said: “While Ms. Palmer is profoundly disturbed by the allegations that Mr. Gaiman has abused several women, at this time her primary concern is, and must remain, the well-being of her son and therefore, to guard his privacy, she has no comment on these allegations”.

This is a developing story.

For more help, advice or more information regarding sexual harassment, assault and rape in the UK, visit the Rape Crisis charity website. In the US, visit RAINN.

The post Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer sued for rape and human trafficking of babysitter appeared first on NME.