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A woman from New Zealand has filed a civil lawsuit against bestselling British author Neil Gaiman and his estranged wife, musician Amanda Palmer, accusing Gaiman of repeatedly sexually assaulting her while she was working as the couple’s babysitter and nanny.
Scarlett Pavlovich filed the lawsuit in federal court in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New York on Monday. Pavlovich previously publicly identified herself in an interview with New York magazine, which published an article in January detailing allegations of assault, abuse and coercion levelled at Gaiman by multiple women.
Pavlovich’s lawsuit also accuses Gaiman of rape, coercion and human trafficking, and Palmer of “procuring and presenting” her to Gaiman “for such abuse”.
Pavlovich’s attorneys stated in the filings that Gaiman, author of such bestsellers as Coraline and The Sandman series, is a resident of Wisconsin, but that they were unsure if Palmer currently resides in Massachusetts or New York.
Palmer and Gaiman, who married in 2011 and have one child together, are currently in the process of getting divorced. Gaiman has denied all allegations of sexual assault against him, writing in a public statement last month: “I’m far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever.”
After the New York magazine article, a representative for Palmer said she was “profoundly disturbed” by the allegations, with the musician also writing on social media: “As there are ongoing custody and divorce proceedings, I am not able to offer public comment. Please understand that I am first and foremost a parent. I ask for privacy at this time.”
Pavlovich alleges in the lawsuit that she was homeless and living on a beach when she met Palmer in Auckland, New Zealand, in 2020. Pavlovich was 22 years old at the time.
According to the lawsuit, Palmer invited Pavlovich to the couple’s home on Waiheke Island. Pavlovich began running errands for the couple, babysitting their son and helping with chores, eventually becoming the couple’s nanny.
Gaiman first sexually assaulted her the night they met in February 2022, according to the lawsuit. The assaults continued but she kept working for the couple because she was broke and homeless, and Gaiman had told her he would help her writing career, the lawsuit alleges.
Pavlovich claims in the lawsuit that she told Palmer about the assaults and she alleges Palmer told her that more than a dozen women had told her in the past that Gaiman had sexually abused them.
The assaults did not stop until Pavlovich told Palmer she was going to kill herself, the lawsuit said. She left the family and became homeless again, although the documents say Gaiman eventually paid her for her work caring for the couple’s child and helped cover her rent for a few months.
Pavlovich claims in the lawsuit that Palmer knew of Gaiman’s sexual desires and presented Pavlovich to him knowing he would assault her. Pavlovich alleges Gaiman and Palmer violated federal human trafficking prohibitions and seeks at least $7m in damages.
After the New York magazine article was published, Gaiman released a statement in January, saying he believed his relationships with all of the women were “entirely consensual sexual relationships” but said: “I was emotionally unavailable while being sexually available, self-focused and not as thoughtful as I could or should have been.”
But, he added, “I don’t accept there was any abuse. To repeat, I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone.”
Representatives for Gaiman and Palmer did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Monday and online court records did not list attorneys representing them in the suit.
Pavlovich’s lawsuit states that she filed a police report in New Zealand, accusing Gaiman of sexual assault, but she alleges “the police took no action because Palmer refused to talk to them”.
Gaiman has worked with numerous publishers over the years. Two of them, HarperCollins and WW Norton, have said they have no plans to release his books in the future. Others, including Bloomsbury, have so far declined to comment.
Dark Horse Comics announced in January that it would no longer release its illustrated series based on Gaiman’s novel Anansi Boys. The seventh of eight editions was released earlier that month.
A production of Coraline has been cancelled, while Disney has paused a planned adaptation of Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book. Netflix is still scheduled to release a second season based on The Sandman, but announced last week it would be the last, in a statement that did not acknowledge the allegations against Gaiman.
Associated Press contributed to this report
