Neil Gaiman, wife sued for alleged sexual assault, human trafficking of babysitter
Warning: This article details accounts of sexual assault.
British author Neil Gaiman faces three civil lawsuits after a woman in New Zealand who worked as his babysitter accused him of repeatedly raping her.
This comes weeks after more women came forward with allegations of sexual assault against the best-selling writer. Scarlett Pavlovich, who detailed her alleged experiences with Gaiman in the Vulture article "There Is No Safe Word," filed the cases against the author.
His ex-wife Amanda Palmer is also accused of "procuring and presenting the Plaintiff to Gaiman for such abuse."
The Wisconsin filing obtained by Deadline stated that Pavlovich was 22 years old, homeless, and living on the beach when she met Palmer in 2020. She was invited to the couple's home on Waiheke Island in New Zealand to run errands and watch their son.
It also contained vivid detail of Gaiman's repeated alleged rape, which first began in February 2022 in his home. After the first instance, Palmer offered a struggling Pavlovich to work as a live-in nanny while Gaiman "promised" he would use his "tremendous industry influence" to help the young woman's writing career.
Pavlovich was not paid for her work and Gaiman would continue to sexually assault her and make her call him "master" while she was referred to as "slave," according to the lawsuit.
When she told Palmer about the assault, Palmer said more than a dozen women, including former employees, had previously come to her about their abusive sexual encounters with Gaiman.
"Gaiman understood that Scarlett was not willingly participating in sexual activities with him," the suit said, adding that she did not consent to sexual activity.
Pavlovich is seeking at least $7 million (P409 million) in damages.
In January, Gaiman denied multiple sexual abuse allegations against him, insisting he "never engaged" in non-consexual sex with anyone.
He has also been dropped by Dark Horse Comics which said it would no longer publish his works.
