Sci-fi author Neil Gaiman slapped with lurid lawsuit from ex-nanny

MENOMONIE, Wis. (CN) — Best-selling sci-fi author Neil Gaiman and wife Amanda Palmer face lawsuits filed Monday by a former nanny who claims Gaiman repeatedly and brutally raped her while Palmer looked the other way.

In three federal complaints filed in the Western District of Wisconsin, the Southern District of New York and the District of Massachusetts, Scarlett Pavlovich claims Gaiman, the 64-year-old author best known for “The Sandman” and “Coraline,” repeatedly raped and assaulted her while she was employed as his live-in nanny.

Pavlovich’s claims first surfaced in July 2024 on a Tortoise Media podcast.

Her attorney, Thomas Neville of the New York firm Kamerman Uncyk Soniker & Klein P.C., filed complaints in three states to cover the bases — Gaiman lives in Menomonie, Wisconsin while Palmer resides in either New York or Massachusetts. Her claims include human trafficking and conspiracy to commit trafficking against both Gaiman and Palmer, as well as assault, battery and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Palmer faces an additional claim of negligence.

Pavlovich says she was 24 years old when Palmer, knowing she was experiencing financial hardship and housing insecurity, hired her as a live-in nanny for Palmer and Gaiman’s son in 2022. In her duties as a nanny, she traveled between Palmer’s and Gaiman’s separate homes on Waiheke Island Near Auckland, New Zealand.

From that point, the timeline Pavlovich lays out turns dark and graphic. She claims she and Gaiman engaged in several specific and increasingly demeaning nonconsensual sexual encounters. She says at several points she begged for him to stop, saying “I can’t” and “no” and screaming in pain during the encounters.

She says Gaiman sometimes used truffle oil or butter as lubricant, forced Pavlovich to consume his feces or urine after the assault and called her his “slave.". Pavlovich also claims that he sometimes punished her by choking her and striking her with his belt.

She also claims Gaiman’s son was present for some of these encounters and that eventually the child also demanded to be called “master” and even called her “slave.” One such encounter took place in a hotel room while the child was sitting on the end of the bed playing on an iPad and talking to Gaiman while he raped Pavlovich just a few feet away, according to the complaint.

Pavlovich doesn’t say exactly how many times Gaiman assaulted her or how long she worked for Gaiman and Palmer. But she claims Gaiman had acted similarly with other women who he later bound with nondisclosure agreements and six-figure settlements.

And she claims Palmer knew about these previous sexual assaults and knew that Gaiman would likely rape Pavlovich. During the first weekend of her employment with Gaiman, Pavlovich claims he bragged to her that Palmer told him he “couldn’t have this one” and that he knew about all her mental health and financial struggles.

Pavlovich says Palmer wasn’t surprised when she told her about the assaults, instead saying “I bet he did.” She claims Palmer was aware of the danger Gaiman posed and used her financial insecurity to trap her in a job she could not afford to leave no matter what Gaiman did to her.

Pavlovich claims she continues to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression because of the abuse she endured from Gaiman, and that just before she was fired she told Palmer she was planning to take her own life.

She seeks damages related to physical and emotional well-being, past and future economic losses, loss of career opportunities and punitive damages in excess of $1 million.

In a statement posted on his website on Jan. 14, Gaiman addressed the many accusations against him and maintained that the encounters were all consensual.

“Some of the horrible stories now being told simply never happened, while others have been so distorted from what actually took place that they bear no relationship to reality,” Gaiman said. “I am prepared to take responsibility for any missteps I made. I’m not willing to turn by back on the truth.”

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