Silence Ends: Neil Gaiman Addresses Sexual Assault Allegations
Months after the accusations surfaced, Neil Gaiman denies sexual assault allegations, slams the reporting, and calls the claims a smear campaign.
Neil Gaiman has spoken up again after months of silence, flat-out denying the sexual assault and misconduct allegations against him and taking a swing at how the story has been covered. If you have been watching this unfold from the sidelines, this is the most forceful pushback he has put on the record in a while.
What Gaiman is saying now
In a lengthy Instagram post, Gaiman called the accusations false and framed the whole thing as an effort to damage his reputation. He says he has private messages and recordings that contradict what has been alleged, and that the loudest parts of the conversation have ignored that context.
"These allegations, especially the really salacious ones, have been spread and amplified by people who seemed a lot more interested in outrage and getting clicks on headlines rather than whether things had actually happened or not. (They didn’t.)"
He also said he expected news outlets to do deeper reporting that factored in what he describes as mountains of evidence. Instead, he was surprised by what he calls an echo chamber effect, with material he believes is exculpatory dismissed or overlooked. He adds that trusting the truth would eventually come out is what got him through the past stretch, and he thanked people who have stuck by him.
How we got here
- July 2024: Tortoise Media released a podcast investigation laying out claims from nine women accusing Gaiman of sexual misconduct and coercive behavior.
- January 2025: New York Magazine published a follow-up report examining those allegations.
- One accuser, Scarlett Pavlovich, previously worked as a nanny for Gaiman and his ex-wife, musician Amanda Palmer.
The media angle he is attacking
Beyond saying the allegations are false, Gaiman is very much taking aim at the coverage: that it was more about outrage than accuracy, that outlets echoed each other instead of verifying, and that key material he supplied was sidelined. It is a very meta critique for a public statement, and he is clearly trying to reset the narrative by insisting there is documentary evidence on his side. Where this goes next likely depends on whether more reporting surfaces that either supports or undercuts those claims, but for now, this is Gaiman planting a flag and denying everything outright.