A girl from New Zealand has filed three civil lawsuits accusing best-selling British creator Neil Gaiman of repeatedly sexually assaulting her whereas she was working as his household’s babysitter and nanny.
Scarlett Pavlovich filed the lawsuits — one towards Gaiman and his spouse, Amanda Palmer, and two extra towards Palmer — in federal court docket in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New York on Monday.
The Associated Press doesn’t establish individuals who say they’ve been sexually assaulted except they publicly establish themselves. Pavlovich recognized herself in an interview with New York Magazine, which printed an article in January detailing allegations of assault, abuse and coercion levelled by eight ladies.
Pavlovich alleges within the lawsuits that she was homeless and residing on a seaside when she met Palmer in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2020. Pavlovich was 22 years previous on the time.
According to the lawsuits, Palmer invited Pavlovich to the couple’s house on Waiheke Island. Pavlovich started operating errands for the couple, babysitting their son and serving to with chores, finally turning into the couple’s nanny.
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Gaiman first sexually assaulted her the evening they met in February 2022, in keeping with the lawsuits. The assaults continued however she saved working for the couple as a result of she was broke and homeless and Gaiman had instructed her he would assist her writing profession, in keeping with the lawsuits.
When she instructed Palmer concerning the assaults, Palmer instructed her that greater than a dozen ladies had instructed her prior to now that Gaiman had sexually abused them, in keeping with the lawsuits.
The assaults didn’t cease till Pavlovich instructed Palmer she was going to kill herself, the lawsuits stated. She left the household and have become homeless once more, though the paperwork say Gaiman finally paid her for her work caring for the couple’s baby and helped cowl her lease for a couple of months.
Palmer knew of Gaiman’s sexual needs and offered Pavalovich to him realizing he would assault her, in accordance the lawsuits. Pavlovich alleges Gaiman and Palmer violated federal human trafficking prohibitions and seeks at the least $7 million in damages.
After the New York Magazine article was printed, Gaiman launched an announcement in January denying he had ever engaged in non-consensual intercourse. The allegations of 4 of the ladies had been beforehand broadcast in July in a Tortoise Media podcast.
“I’m far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever,” Gaiman posted on the social media platform Tumblr.
Representatives for Gaiman and Palmer didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark Monday and on-line court docket information didn’t checklist legal professionals representing them within the fits. Pavlovich’s legal professionals said within the filings that Gaiman, creator of such bestsellers as Coraline and The Sandman sequence, is a resident of Menomonie, Wisconsin. But they’re uncertain if Palmer resides in Massachusetts or New York.
Pavlovich instructed New York Magazine that she filed a police report in January 2023 accusing Gaiman of sexual assault. Police haven’t confirmed whether or not Gaiman was ever beneath investigation.
Gaiman has labored with quite a few publishers through the years. Two of them, HarperCollins and W.W. Norton, have stated they don’t have any plans to launch his books sooner or later. Others, together with Bloomsbury, have to date declined remark.
Dark Horse Comics introduced in January that it might not launch its illustrated sequence based mostly on Gaiman’s novel, Anansi Boys. The seventh of eight editions was launched earlier that month.
Disney has paused a deliberate adaptation of Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, whereas Netflix remains to be scheduled to launch a second season based mostly on The Sandman.
© 2025 The Canadian Press