Dismissive, shameful gibberish : Neil Gaiman s former fans aren t buying his response to the horrific allegations

Get the Full StoryWe should feel very sorry for Neil Gaiman s legions of devoted fans. For decades they thought they were championing a kind, supportive, feminist ally who regularly delivered imaginative, impressive gothic fantasies. Everything, from his writing to his online activity to his social circle, painted a picture of a genuinely lovely person. Over the last six months that facade has come crashing down. First came a series of podcasts detailing Gaiman s questionable sexual behavior, but this week s publication of a lengthy expos in New York Magazine drawn from the direct testimony of his alleged victims has left jaws on the floor. We won t go into the precise nature of their stories here, but the general response has been shock, disgust, and outright horror. Most of Gaiman s predominantly liberal, feminist fanbase disowned him overnight. Signed books have been tossed in recycling, graphic novels donated to Goodwill, and we only have sympathy for those stuck with tattoos of his characters. For days Gaiman didn t respond, but has now posted a rebuttal on his website. The summary is that he believes all the encounters in the article were either consensual or things that emphatically did not happen. He underlines I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever. and concludes: I am prepared to take responsibility for any missteps I made. I m not willing to turn my back on the truth, and I can t accept being described as someone I am not, and cannot and will not admit to doing things I didn t do. This is one of those occasions where silence probably would have been the smarter move. Gaiman is effectively saying that his accusers are outright lying. The trouble is that, at least from what we can see in the article, the allegations are backed up by text messages, payments, and video messages. On a journalistic level, the story will have had to be carefully vetted by New York Magazine s legal department and, at least as of writing, Gaiman s lawyers haven t intervened. All of which means absolutely nobody is buying this rebuttal. Over on X, the statement has been summarized as dismissive, shameful gibberish : bunch of dismissive, shameful gibberish from neil gaiman today : pic.twitter.com IprFLRrN7k lizziebeth . . someraisingirl January 14, 2025 Others point out that it s sus that this isn t coming from his lawyers: Neil Gaiman doing this through a statement on his blog and not through a lawyer is very Sorry, Neil, but I just don t buy this at all. This does nothing to sway me to think that you didn t do exactly what they said you did. pic.twitter.com iUMQIBLG4T Kerri codeverity January 14, 2025 And, without mincing words that this response is f king heinous : neil gaiman's statement is so fucking heinousto sit there and do nothing but deny while positioning himself as someone who is "learning", "trying to do the work", and continuing "to grow" while saying he doesn't "accept there was any abuse" is so fucking despicable pic.twitter.com kVMjpKpe8B Meg Vondriska menwritewomen January 14, 2025 Over on Reddit s r neilgaiman, his formerly die-hard fans are in collective mutiny: Comment byu PiskAlmighty from discussion inneilgaiman They agree that this is at best a pointless statement: Comment byu PiskAlmighty from discussion inneilgaiman This classic is always worth posting in these situations: Comment byu PiskAlmighty from discussion inneilgaiman Or, simply: Comment byu PiskAlmighty from discussion inneilgaiman It s difficult to see a way back from this for Gaiman. The best-case scenario is that somehow his production partners in Netflix and Amazon shrug their shoulders and continue producing The Sandman and various other adaptations of his work. However, given the shocking nature of these women s stories, we suspect some executives are mulling over writing off what s already been spent as a tax break. As for his future literary career? Well, if his fans are actively destroying the Gaiman novels they already own, it seems unlikely they ll be rushing out to buy new ones. Though many would like to see criminal charges brought against him and compensatory payments to his alleged victims, it would ultimately be best for Gaiman and his work to simply fade away into obscurity. Here s hoping karma is real.

Share: