Neil Gaiman, the acclaimed author whose works include The Sandman comics, and popular movies and TV shows like Coraline and Good Omens, is facing a growing list of sexual abuse allegations. Two additional women have now come forward with accusations via a newly added episode of Tortoise Media’s Master: the allegations against Neil Gaiman. One of the new allegations dates back to 1986, when Gaiman was 25, and extends the concerning timeline back decades. The two women join three others who publicly spoke out against The Sandman series co-creator in July.
One of those women is Caroline Wallner, who was a tenant in Gaiman’s Woodstock, New York, property from 2014 to 2021. Wallner alleges that after her divorce, Gaiman pushed her into a sexual relationship in exchange for allowing her, and her daughters, to remain living in the home (at the time, Gaiman was still married to then-wife Amanda Palmer). According to Wallner, Gaiman threatened to remove her from the property if she didn’t abide by his advances and, due to financial struggles, Wallner obliged. Wallner shared that while being intimate with Gaiman, he would tell her: “‘Call me your master.”
“There were little hints of, ‘We’re going to need the house’. And I remember saying, let’s talk about it. Let’s figure it out. That’s when he would just come to my studio and make me give him [oral sex]. And he can say it was consensual. But why would I do that? It was because I was scared of losing my place.”
Wallner was eventually ordered to vacate the property by Gaiman’s business manager after Gaiman moved away and she stopped responding to explicit, unsolicited photos and video calls from Gaiman. Wallner eventually received a $275,000 settlement and signed a nondisclosure agreement.
Julia Hobsbwam, the second woman to recently speak out against Gaiman, claims that in 1986 (while she was 22 and Gaiman was 25), Gaiman made an “aggressive unwanted pass” at her before forcefully kissing her and pushing her on a sofa. She was able to escape from Gaiman. According to a Rolling Stone report, Gaiman continues denying all wrongdoing. The author’s reps claim that the sexual relationship with Wallner was consensual. Regarding Hobsbwam, they claim that Gaiman stopped pursuing her once he realized she wasn’t interested.
Related
The Sandman Creator Neil Gaiman Denies Sexual Assault Allegations From Two Women
The author and screenwriter behind such classics as Coraline, American Gods, and The Sandman is strongly denying the claims made against him.
Neil Gaiman’s Earlier Abuse Allegations
Wallner, and Hobsbwam’s damning accusations follow three other women, who, in July, shared their tales of abuse at the hands of Gaiman. Two of those women spoke out in earlier episodes of Master: the Allegations Against Neil Gaiman. One of those allegations comes from the former nanny of Gaiman’s children, who was hired in 2022. According to her, Gaiman’s first sexual assault came just hours after their first encounter and took place in a bath in the author’s New Zealand home. During a three-week course, she alleges, Gaiman performed “penetrative sexual acts.” The second woman said she met Gaiman in 2003, while she was 18, at a book signing in Florida. When she was 20, the two engaged in a relationship where she was subjected to painful intercourse that she “neither wanted nor enjoyed.”
Less than a month after Wallner and Hobsbawm’s podcast appearances, a woman with the pseudonym Claire appeared on an episode of a different podcast titled Am I Broken: Survivor Stories, where she shared that Gaiman groomed and sexually manipulated her. According to the episode’s synopsis, host Papillon DeBoer initially spoke to Claire in 2022, “and at that time she decided she wasn’t ready, but said that if other survivors came forward, she would join them. Several weeks ago two women came forward and shared abuse stories about Neil Gaiman. Claire reached out to me to support herself and them and all survivors by sharing her story today.”
Related
Coraline Almost-Sequel in the Works From Henry Selick & Neil Gaiman
An adaptation of the beloved children’s book by Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane, is now in development.
During her conversation with DeBoer, Claire shared that she met Gaiman at a book signing in 2012 and that he later began making unwanted sexual advances towards her (including groping, kissing, and appearing nude on Skype calls). Eventually, Gaiman allegedly ceased communication with Claire as she wouldn’t sleep with him. According to her account, she later wrote a letter to Gaiman expressing her emotions about the situation. During a phone conversation following that letter, she says Gaiman claimed he had no idea that she had felt that way and blamed his autism for misreading the situation.
While no legal action has been taken against Gaiman thus far, the possibility of further accusations or legal proceedings cannot be ruled out.