Popular UK speculative fiction writer Neil Gaiman has been ‘cancelled’ following allegations of sexual assault.

Eight women have accused Gaiman of sexual assault. The allegations first surfaced when two of the accusers spoke out on the British podcast Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman in July 2024.

The women have not gone to the police and charges have not been laid. No brief of evidence has been produced. Gaiman has denied the accusations. 

Disney, Prime Video and Netflix – all fearing reputational damage – have announced changes or cancellations to projects involving Gaiman.

Good Omens, a Prime TV show starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen and based on Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel, will now end with one 90-minute episode despite initially being renewed for a third season. Gaiman, who had written for the show, will no longer be part of the production.

The New York Magazine and its website Vulture reported allegations from eight women, four of whom also previously accused Gaiman of sexual assault in July 2024 on Master, a Tortoise Media podcast.

One of the women alleged that when babysitting the author’s five-year-old child, he offered her a bath in his garden before joining her in the tub naked, asking her to sit on his lap before sexually assaulting her.

While the article stated that all of the accusers had at some point played along with Gaiman’s desires to some extent by calling him “master”, the women alleged that consent and specific BDSM activities, which they say took place, had not been discussed and agreed upon.

Gaiman wrote on his blog: “I’m far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever.”

“At the time I was in those relationships, they seemed positive and happy on both sides. I was emotionally unavailable while being sexually available, self-focused and not as thoughtful as I could or should have been.”

“I was obviously careless with people’s hearts and feelings, and that’s something that I really, deeply regret. It was selfish of me. I was caught up in my own story, and I ignored other people’s.”

“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 question now is whether Gaiman, who has been defamed, will go to court or will the women lay formal charges.

There’s a nasty element of McCarthyism about this.