Neil Gaiman accused of sexual assault by fifth woman

Neil Gaiman has been accused of sexual assault by a fifth woman, after a phone-call recording came to light of a man—alleged to be Gaiman—appearing to offer $60,000 (£45,400) to the alleged victim.

The victim alleged to Tortoise that while the author was on a book tour in the US in July 2013 he took her to a room in his tour bus with a bed, closed the door, "got on top of her, kissed her and groped her under her dress and over her breasts".

In the sixth episode of a podcast from Tortoise’s series, "Master: the allegations against Neil Gaiman", the man, alleged to be the bestselling author, is apparently heard in a phone call recording in 2022 with the woman, who is calling herself "Claire" to preserve her anonymity. 

Claire claims she wrote Gaiman a letter in 2022 on the impact of his behaviour a decade earlier, when he is alleged to have assaulted her.

In the 2022 recording of the phone call, the man—alleged to be Gaiman—can be apparently heard telling Claire that he "f***** up", that his behaviour was "s****", and appears to offer to pay her a $60,000 (£45,400) "tax-free gift" to cover the cost of a decade worth of therapy.

In the podcast episode named "The Pattern", in the recording of the phone call the man is heard telling Claire: “I’m feeling that I got the wrong end of the stick... I was heartbroken seeing you that I had given you nightmares. I’m really sorry... I’m trying to make up for some of the damage.

"Would you like me to send me some money?... I’m not sure that I’m reading you... I said that bluntly but listen, you’ve got a baby on the way, and I appreciate that $500 a month over a decade is going to stack up and a lot of that must have been my fault."

According to Tortoise, five days later after the original call, the man allegedly called with a firm financial offer. "I’ve been doing a lot of thinking... and a lot of listening to what you were saying on the last call." He is apparently heard to suggest "gifting" her £15,000 each year and then a "hefty donation" to the "place you sent me a link to" [a rape crisis centre].

The pair eventually seem to agree that he will pay it to her as a lump sum. However, the rape crisis centre told Tortoise it had no record of his donation. 

Gaiman’s account, according to Tortoise, is that he was "surprised" to hear that Claire been traumatised because he had thought all their interactions had been consensual and when he realised they were not, he stopped. According to Tortoise, Gaiman’s account is that he tried to initiate a kiss with Claire while they were lying on a bed at the back of the bus, but stopped when it became quickly apparent that she didn’t want one.

Gaiman first denied allegations of "non-consensual sex" and "sexual assault" reported in an investigation by Tortoise, in early July.

Tortoise said that Gaiman’s account strongly denies any non-consensual sex with the five women featured in the podcasts. According to Tortoise, Gaiman’s account "insists any suggestion of a pattern of behaviour is confected and flimsy".

The Bookseller reached out to Gaiman’s representatives, who did not respond, and his publishers, with Headline declining to comment, and Bloomsbury, Penguin Random House (PRH) and HarperCollins US not responding to requests to comment. 

The Bookseller also reached out to the Royal Society of Literature, of which Gaiman is a patron, which declined to comment, as did the Publishers Association.

The Bookseller also contacted the Society of Authors (SoA) which said it could not comment on individual cases. A spokesperson added: "We take these matters very seriously and, as always, the SoA remains available to support all its members, on an individual and confidential basis."

Gaiman is a fellow of the organisation, an honour awarded to 60 prominent SoA members and "conferred by the Management Committee on members of high standing who have been exceptional in their support of the SoA", the organisation’s website reads.