Photo: Guerin Blask

In the latest edition of new York Magazine writer Lila Shapiro delves into the sexual assault allegations against Neil Gaiman, the celebrated British fantasist and author whose work has sold more than 50 million copies worldwide and been widely adapted for film and television Coraline in 2009. While reporting the cover story “There Is No Safe Word,” Shapiro spoke with eight women who shared allegations of assault, coercion or abuse by Gaiman, including Scarlett Pavlovich, who worked as a nanny for Gaiman and his second wife, Amanda Palmer. Gaiman says through his representatives that all meetings were consensual. Here Pavlovich tells her own story for the first time in disturbing detail.

Allegations against Gaiman first came to light on the podcast last summer master by Tortoise Media. Shapiro says the contrast between Gaiman’s public appearance and the allegations caught her attention and she felt there was more to the story. She has followed Gaiman’s career and work since she was a teenager; She previously wrote an encounter with Gaiman and Palmer at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade in 2018. “Gaiman has described herself as a feminist writer for decades. He is someone who spoke specifically to women, who made women feel seen, and who made women feel safe. So I knew right away that there was a discrepancy between who he claimed to be and these stories,” says Shapiro. Gaiman not only had the reputation of being one of the greatest modern comics writers, but also one of the first to attract a large female readership.

Many of the allegations against Gaiman involve domineering violence, a characteristic of BDSM, “a culture with a set of long-standing norms, the most important of which is that all parties must consent eagerly and clearly to the overall dynamic, as well as to each individual party.” act before they get involved,” as Shapiro writes. She says seven of the eight women she spoke to told her they had no interest in BDSM, even though they had participated at some point. “The defining characteristic of BDSM is consent, and in fact there is more emphasis on consent than outside of BDSM. If only one party consents, then it is not BDSM, it is abuse,” says Shapiro.

In January 2023, Pavlovich filed a police report alleging that Gaiman was sexually abused while she worked as a nanny, although the matter was “closed,” according to a spokesman. His career has only been slightly affected, although new series and seasons will premiere on Amazon Prime and Netflix this year. An ugly divorce and custody battle with Palmer is now in its fifth year. The article also addresses the breakdown of Gaiman and Palmer’s marriage during the period in which many of the alleged assaults occurred, as well as what Palmer knew about the nature of his extramarital relationships.

Elsewhere in this issue, Kerry Howley writes a first-person account of the Los Angeles wildfires, Allison P. Davis looks at the startup that believes it can “eradicate loneliness,” and Lauren Smiley examines, what drove a mother to relentlessly cyberbully her teenage daughter.