Do we like Neil Gaiman?
Our score: 4 out of 10. Years of public support for trans and non-binary people and refugees sit against serious allegations from multiple women that he denies and that remain undecided.
Gaiman is the writer behind The Sandman, Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett) and a shelf of fantasy novels. His work went mainstream through screen adaptations, including a Netflix Sandman that was praised for casting non-binary and Black actors. For a long time he was one of the genre's friendliest faces, which is why the last two years have landed so hard on his fans.
In July 2024 a Tortoise Media podcast aired accusations from five women. One of them, a former nanny, alleged an assault at his New Zealand home, and police were reportedly investigating at the time. In January 2025 New York Magazine reported accounts from eight women accusing him of sexual abuse. Gaiman denied it, saying he had “never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone”. He also conceded he had been “emotionally unavailable” in his past encounters.
The former nanny sued in the US in February 2025, seeking at least $7 million. Judges in Wisconsin and Massachusetts dismissed her suits because New Zealand was the proper place to hear them, and the New York case against another defendant was dropped. Gaiman's lawyers described a brief relationship involving “consensual physical intimacy” and said New Zealand police found the allegations meritless. Nobody has tested the claims on their merits, so they remain just that: allegations.
On the harm test he comes out clean. In 2021 he publicly defended singular they/them pronouns against online trolls, and PinkNews describes it as part of his broader support for trans and non-binary people. We found nothing harmful from him on trans people, women, migrants or the planet, but we also found no statements from him on climate or migration, so that's honestly the whole list.
The legal story has dragged on. In late June 2026 the Seventh Circuit upheld the Wisconsin dismissal, and the case is not heading to a US trial. The accuser's lawyers have since asked to file a Supreme Court petition and got until 26 December. The dispute still has no ruling on what actually happened, and a New Zealand court is where the judges say it belongs.
There's real good here too. He was a UN refugee agency ambassador, and in 2017 he offered to read the Cheesecake Factory menu on stage if fans raised $500,000 for refugees. That is the sort of cheeky, practical kindness his fans fell for. It doesn't cancel the accusations, and the accusations don't cancel it.