Almost a month to the day that Neil Gaiman was hit with a trio of rape, human trafficking and more allegations in three separate states by a former southwestern Pacific Ocean nanny to his son, the Good Omens showrunner and Sandman creator says the claims are “a sham,” and shouldn’t even be addressed by US courts.
Spitting out that the $1 million seeking allegations are simply “the culmination of her plan to maximize adverse publicity against Gaiman, a well-known author” for an “unjust financial settlement,” Gaiman wants the whole thing from Scarlett Pavlovich against him and estranged wife Amanda Palmer tossed out.
“In no uncertain terms, Pavlovich’s accusations are false,” a brief in support of motion to dismiss filed Tuesday in federal court in Wisconsin proclaims in language similar to blog post reactions he issued to such allegations last year. “The sexual scenarios she describes deliberately in graphic detail are invented. Any sexual conduct that occurred was in all ways consensual. Law enforcement authorities in New Zealand thoroughly investigated the same claims Plaintiff makes here, found no merit, and declined to file any charges against Gaiman. There was no credible evidence of wrongdoing.”
In her February 3 filings, Pavlovich exclaimed “Gaiman has a decades-long history of sexual misconduct consistent with the actions that will be described in the following paragraphs. The nearly 30-page complaints went on to describe including various alleged manipulations and assaults of the plaintiff, including a 2022 sodomy rape of “slave” by Gaiman.
Accompanied by alleged 2022 WhatsApp messages from Pavlovich saying things like “It was consensual – how many times do I have to fucking tell everyone” and “I am consumed by thoughts of you, the things you will do to me. I’m so hungry,” Gaiman and his lawyers also lay emphasis on geography almost as much as denial
“No matter what Plaintiff says happened, it all happened in New Zealand between a New Zealand citizen and a New Zealand permanent resident,” the brief asserts. “There is no legal authority to adjudicate her lawsuit in federal court in Wisconsin, or in other federal courts around the United States,” the filing adds, with a declaration from Gaiman listing over a dozen people in NZ and the USA who will back his version of events. “Pavlovich’s claims are false, but there is no dispute that all of the conduct alleged in the Complaint occurred in New Zealand, the proper forum, if any, for this lawsuit.”
Lawyers for Pavlovich did not respond to request for comment from Deadline on Gaiman’s dismissal filing. In early February, Palmer wrote in part on Instagram: “I deny the allegations and will respond in due course.” The Dresden Dolls co-founder does not appear to have officially responded in the courts as of March 4.
Pavlovich’s claims track with New York Magazine’s “There Is No Safe Word”piece by Lila Shapiro from earlier this year. They also match allegations made by Pavlovich and seven different women against Gaiman. That New York Magazine article drew from Tortoise Media’s six-part podcast Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman from last summer. In a January 14 posting, Gaiman said in his first respone: “As I reflect on my past – and as I re-review everything that actually happened as opposed to what is being alleged – I don’t accept there was any abuse. To repeat, I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone.”
The claims against Gaiman from seven women and Pavlovich has seen the author/filmmaker dumped CAA and his UK agent Casarotto Ramsay & Associates’ client list. Additionally, Anansi Boys publisher Dark Horse Comics has dropped the once-acclaimed scribe, and a UK stage production of Coraline was canceled in the last days of January. As allegations against Gaiman grew, Season 3 of Amazon Prime Video‘s Good Omens was scaled back to a 90-minute episode and Disney paused production on its big screen adaptation of The Graveyard Book. Netflix announced on January 31 that the upcoming second season of the acclaimed The Sandman will be the last, with a proposed Season 3 scrapped.
