The suits were filed by a former nanny and supposedly seek millions in damages
Bestselling author Neil Gaiman and musician Amanda Palmer have been slapped with three lawsuits claiming sexual abuse and human trafficking, reported Reuters.
The pair was sued by New Zealand-based Scarlett Pavlovich, who worked for them as a nanny and babysitter in 2022, on Monday in Wisconsin federal court. Pavlovich also sued Palmer in Manhattan and Boston federal courts.
Gaiman and Palmer were married for 11 years before announcing their divorce in 2022.
The suits are supposedly seeking over US$1 million in damages on multiple claims. Pavlovich alleged that Gaiman sexually abused her while she was in the couple’s employ in Auckland; she accused Palmer of not warning her about Gaiman’s predatory behavior.
Pavlovich, who reportedly met Palmer in 2020 at the age of 22, claimed that Palmer knew she was homeless and suffered from mental health issues. As per court papers, Pavlovich accepted Palmer’s offer for her to babysit the child she shared with Gaiman because Pavlovich needed money and a place to stay. Subsequently, Pavlovich said she was subject to weeks of sexual abuse from Gaiman that caused physical, mental and emotional damage until the author and his child departed for Europe.
According to Pavlovich, Palmer told her about several former employees who had raised concerns regarding their own encounters with Gaiman. Pavlovich filed a police report against the author in October 2022, but no action was taken because Palmer refused to speak to police.
Reuters said that Palmer’s camp did not immediately respond to a request for comment made on Tuesday.
Gaiman was first accused of misconduct in 2023; allegations blew up last month after eight women shared accounts of experiences involving him in a Vulture feature, Pavlovich among them. Gaiman denied the claims in a Tumblr post, saying in a snippet published by Reuters that he had “never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever.”
The author presently does not face criminal charges.
Last month, Dark Horse Comics announced that it would no longer be publishing Gaiman’s works, which include the hit series The Sandman. Netflix cancelled the adaptation of that series recently; a theatrical adaptation of the Gaiman book Coraline was scrapped as well.