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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsMultiple women have publicly accused Neil Gaiman of sexual assault, coercive or unwanted sexual conduct, and abuse of power. The allegations were first reported prominently by Tortoise Media in July 2024 and expanded by a January 2025 New York Magazine/Vulture investigation. Gaiman denies ever engaging in non-consensual sexual activity.
The allegations remain unresolved as matters of fact. U.S. courts dismissed civil actions on forum-related grounds, including the determination that New Zealand was the more convenient forum; those rulings did not decide whether the accusations were true or false.
What the allegations against Neil Gaiman are
Neil Gaiman has been accused by multiple women of sexual assault, unwanted or coercive sexual conduct, and abuse of power in relationships involving fans, employees, landlords, and people who were economically dependent on him. The allegations were first widely reported by Tortoise Media in July 2024 and expanded in a January 2025 investigation by New York Magazine and Vulture.
These remain allegations, not established facts. Gaiman has repeatedly denied engaging in non-consensual sexual activity. No court has ruled that the allegations were true, and no court has ruled that they were false. The U.S. litigation described below ended in procedural dismissals, including a decision that New Zealand was the more appropriate forum; it did not produce a verdict on the underlying claims.
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A concise timeline
| Date | Development | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| July 3, 2024 | Tortoise Media released the first episodes of its six-part podcast investigation, Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman. | The initial reporting described allegations by two former partners and a New Zealand police complaint. Later episodes added further accounts. |
| January 13, 2025 | New York Magazine/Vulture published an investigation based on interviews with eight women, six of whom spoke on the record. | The reporting broadened the public account of the allegations and described alleged sexual misconduct and power imbalances in several different relationships. |
| January 14, 2025 | Gaiman published a response. | He denied non-consensual sexual activity while acknowledging that he had been emotionally unavailable, self-focused, and careless with people’s feelings. |
| January 25–27, 2025 | Dark Horse Comics said it would no longer publish Gaiman’s works. Disney paused its planned adaptation of The Graveyard Book; Netflix continued with the already-produced second season of The Sandman. | The allegations produced significant professional consequences, although the companies’ decisions differed. |
| February 3–4, 2025 | Scarlett Pavlovich filed civil actions involving Gaiman and Amanda Palmer in federal courts in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and New York. | The complaints included allegations of repeated sexual assault, claims under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act, and state-law claims. Gaiman denied the allegations. |
| October 3, 2025 | The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin dismissed Pavlovich’s case against Gaiman on forum non conveniens grounds. | The court concluded that New Zealand had the stronger connection to the alleged events, witnesses, and evidence. It expressly did not decide whether the allegations were true. |
| February 2, 2026 | Gaiman issued another public statement. | He called the allegations completely and simply untrue, said emails, text messages, and video contradicted them, and described the public dissemination of the claims as a smear campaign. |
| February 6, 2026 | The Massachusetts action involving Palmer was dismissed on forum-related grounds, according to the later Seventh Circuit opinion. | An appeal remained pending as of the appellate opinion’s publication. This was also a procedural outcome, not a ruling on the truth of the allegations. |
| June 29, 2026 | The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit affirmed dismissal of the Wisconsin action without prejudice. | The appellate court held that the lower court had not abused its discretion in selecting New Zealand as the more convenient forum. |
How the public reporting expanded
Tortoise’s initial episodes focused on accounts from two former partners and on a complaint made to New Zealand police. The later episodes added other accounts. The January 2025 New York Magazine investigation interviewed eight women, six on the record, including four who had also participated in the Tortoise reporting.
The women’s accounts were not identical. They involved different dates, locations, relationships, and alleged conduct. The reporting described allegations ranging from unwanted sexual acts and sexual assault to pressure, coercive sexual dynamics, and conduct that the women said was connected to housing, employment, or other forms of dependence.
A recurring theme in the reporting was the alleged use of access and influence. Some women described Gaiman as an employer, landlord, celebrated author, or person with influence over work, housing, or artistic opportunities. Those circumstances are part of the accounts reported by the women and the journalists who interviewed them; they are not judicial findings.
Later coverage in 2026 referred to nine women as having publicly accused Gaiman, including Pavlovich. That figure reflects how subsequent reporting counted public accusers and should not be read as meaning that every account involved the same conduct or circumstances.
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Gaiman’s response
In his January 14, 2025 statement, Gaiman said he had never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity. He wrote that some of the accounts described events he did not recognize and that other accounts had been distorted. At the same time, he accepted that he had sometimes been selfish, emotionally unavailable, and careless with people’s feelings. He did not accept the characterization of those relationships as abuse.
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In a further statement published on February 2, 2026, Gaiman adopted a more comprehensive rebuttal. He said the allegations were “completely and simply untrue,” asserted that emails, text messages, and video evidence contradicted them, and characterized the public circulation of the allegations as a smear campaign. Those are Gaiman’s claims about the evidence and the coverage; the available court rulings did not test those claims on their merits.
What happened with the New Zealand police complaint?
Scarlett Pavlovich made a complaint to New Zealand police. RNZ reported that the police matter had been closed. The Associated Press reported that New Zealand Police confirmed complainants have privacy rights and did not publicly detail the substance of any investigative decision.
The careful takeaway is that the reported police process did not result in a public criminal prosecution. That outcome should not be described as police clearing Gaiman or finding that the allegations were false. A decision not to prosecute, or the closure of a complaint, can reflect many factors and is not the same as a public adjudication of the facts.
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Pavlovich’s Wisconsin complaint alleged that Gaiman repeatedly sexually assaulted her while she worked for his family in New Zealand. It asserted claims under the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act as well as state-law claims. The filings involving Amanda Palmer included claims against her as well. Those claims and allegations should be attributed to the pleadings and should not be presented as findings that Palmer participated in or facilitated abuse.
Forum non conveniens, in plain English
The Wisconsin court dismissed the case under forum non conveniens, a procedural doctrine that allows a court to decline a case when another available forum is substantially better suited to hear it. In this matter, the court pointed to New Zealand’s connection to the alleged conduct and to the likely location of witnesses and evidence.
The court specifically said the question before it was procedural and “not whether Pavlovich’s allegations are true.” The dismissal was without prejudice, which generally means the court did not issue a final merits judgment barring the claim on the facts. It does not guarantee that a case can be refiled or that a New Zealand court will accept it; jurisdiction, limitation periods, evidence, and other procedural requirements would still matter.
On June 29, 2026, the Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal. The appellate court reviewed whether the lower court had properly weighed convenience and the interests of justice. It did not determine whether the alleged assaults occurred, whether Gaiman was liable, or whether Pavlovich’s account was false.
The later Seventh Circuit opinion also noted that Pavlovich ultimately dismissed Palmer from the Wisconsin action. The Massachusetts case involving Palmer had separately been dismissed on forum-related grounds, with an appeal pending as of the opinion’s publication. A New York action involving Palmer was voluntarily dropped, according to contemporaneous reporting.
Accordingly, the U.S. cases did not produce a merits verdict exonerating Gaiman or establishing his liability. They were resolved through procedural decisions about where the claims should be heard, together with the reported voluntary dismissal of one action.
Professional and adaptation consequences
Dark Horse Comics announced in January 2025 that it would no longer publish Gaiman’s works, citing the seriousness of the allegations. The decision ended a publishing relationship associated with several of his major works.
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Disney paused its planned film adaptation of The Graveyard Book, according to the Associated Press. That pause was a documented business response, but the available reporting does not establish every internal reason for the decision beyond the company’s action in the context of the allegations.
Netflix continued with the second season of The Sandman, which had already been produced. Netflix’s official materials describe that season as the series’ final season, and the showrunner said the remaining story had been designed around the available material from the comics. The available evidence does not support claiming that the allegations caused the series to end; the final-season plan and the allegations should be treated as separate facts.
For readers placing the adaptation in its cultural context, The Sandman graphic novel is the source work most directly connected to the Netflix series and to Gaiman’s public profile. That background helps explain the scale of the professional reaction without changing the unresolved legal status of the allegations.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why the story remains legally unresolved
Three different questions are often collapsed in online summaries:
- What did journalists report? Tortoise, New York Magazine/Vulture, RNZ, and other outlets described accounts from multiple women, with differing circumstances and levels of on-record identification.
- What did Gaiman say? He denied non-consensual sex and later said documentary evidence contradicted the allegations. He also acknowledged serious shortcomings in some of his relationships.
- What have courts decided? The Wisconsin federal court and the Seventh Circuit decided that the U.S. case should not proceed in that forum. They did not decide whether the underlying allegations were true.
These questions can all be answered without turning an allegation into a fact or treating a procedural dismissal as an acquittal. The most accurate current description is that multiple women have publicly accused Gaiman, Gaiman denies the allegations, the reported police process produced no public criminal prosecution, and the U.S. civil cases discussed here did not reach a merits judgment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What has Neil Gaiman been accused of?
The allegations were reported by Tortoise Media and later expanded by a January 2025 New York Magazine/Vulture investigation. The reporting described allegations of sexual assault, unwanted or coercive sexual conduct, and abuse of power in relationships involving fans, employees, landlords, and people who were economically dependent on Gaiman. The accounts differed in date, location, relationship, and alleged conduct.
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What is Neil Gaiman’s response?
Gaiman has denied ever engaging in non-consensual sexual activity. In January 2025, he said some accounts described events he did not recognize or had distorted, while acknowledging that he had sometimes been selfish, emotionally unavailable, and careless with people’s feelings. In February 2026, he called the allegations completely and simply untrue and said emails, texts, and video contradicted them.
Did the courts find that the allegations against Gaiman were false?
The Wisconsin case was dismissed under forum non conveniens because the court concluded that New Zealand was the more appropriate forum for alleged conduct, witnesses, and evidence located there. The Seventh Circuit affirmed that decision without prejudice on June 29, 2026. The courts expressly did not decide whether Pavlovich’s allegations were true, so the dismissals were not a merits verdict or an exoneration.
What happened to the New Zealand police complaint?
A complaint was made to New Zealand police. RNZ reported that the matter had been closed, while the Associated Press reported that New Zealand Police did not publicly detail the substance of any investigative decision. The reported process produced no public criminal prosecution, but that should not be described as police finding the allegations false or clearing Gaiman.
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Bottom line: Multiple women have publicly accused Neil Gaiman of sexual assault, coercive sexual conduct, and abuse of power, while Gaiman has repeatedly denied non-consensual sex and says documentary evidence contradicts the claims. The Wisconsin and Massachusetts cases were dismissed on forum-related grounds, and the Seventh Circuit affirmed the Wisconsin dismissal without prejudice; none of those rulings determined whether the allegations were true or false.
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