Neil Gaiman's ex-wife Amanda Palmer speaks out on 'rape scandal'
Amanda Palmer, 49, has been accused by several victims of being aware that her British writer husband was having abusive sexual relationships during the 11 years the pair spent together.
The ex-wife of novelist Neil Gaiman has said she is 'profoundly disturbed' over allegations that he sexually assaulted multiple young women during their marriage.
Amanda Palmer, 49, has been accused by a number of victims of being aware that her British writer husband was having abusive sexual relationships during the 11 years the pair spent together.
Palmer, who was married to Gaiman from 2011 to 2022, has yet to publicly address the specific claims against her ex-husband.
However, her representative issued a statement saying: 'While Ms Palmer is profoundly disturbed by the allegations that Mr Gaiman has abused several women, at this time her primary concern is, and must remain, the wellbeing of her son and therefore, to guard his privacy, she has no comment on these allegations.'
Gaiman, 64, the award-winning writer behind Coraline and Stardust, has vehemently denied any wrongdoing.
In a statement on his website, he admitted to being 'careless with people's hearts and feelings' but insisted all sexual encounters were consensual.
The allegations, however, have sparked outrage, with author JK Rowling criticising the literary community for its 'strangely muted' response.
Some of the accusations involve disturbing claims of coercive sexual relationships, with Gaiman allegedly adopting the role of 'master' and his partners as 'slaves.'
Rock star Amanda Palmer is facing questions over how much she knew about her ex-husband Neil Gaiman's alleged sexual abuse of women - he has vehemently denied the accusations
Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palme, pictured at the world premiere of his Amazon series Good Omens in London in May 2019, announced their split in November 2022
One alleged victim, identified as Rachel, claimed she had been Palmer's lover before being 'passed like a toy' to Gaiman.
Another woman, Scarlett Pavlovich, has accused Gaiman of rape and sexual abuse after being recruited by Palmer to work as their babysitter.
Pavlovich, now a student at the University of St Andrews, alleged that when she disclosed the rape to Palmer and said she was still engaging in sexual relations with Gaiman, Palmer appeared unsurprised, allegedly responding: 'Fourteen women have come to me about this.'
The former babysitter also claims to have filed a police report against Gaiman in 2023 but said Palmer declined to cooperate with investigators.
Pavlovich has alleged Gaiman raped her in an outdoor bathtub while she was nannying the son he shares with Palmer, on February 4 2022.
The student said the author encouraged her to take a bath after they finished dinner, despite her resistance.
After she stripped down and got in, she claimed Gaiman got naked and joined. While he was in the tub, Pavlovich said he told her to stretch out.
'I said "no." I said, 'I'm not confident with my body,' Pavlovich recounted. '[Gaiman] said, "It's okay — it's only me. Just relax. Just have a chat."'
But Pavlovich said the situation escalated, and Gaiman sexually assaulted her.
Gaiman has continued to deny any wrongdoing amid the allegations.
Continuing in his website statement, he wrote: 'Over the past many months, I have watched the stories circulating the Internet about me with horror and dismay.
'I've stayed quiet until now, both out of respect for the people who were sharing their stories and out of a desire not to draw even more attention to a lot of misinformation.
Amanda Palmer, pictured here in March 2013, has yet to publicly address the specific claims against her ex-husband
The author Neil Gaiman has vehemently denied all allegations of sexual abuse
Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman married in 2011 before announcing plans to divorce in 2022
'I've always tried to be a private person, and felt increasingly that social media was the wrong place to talk about important personal matters.
'I've now reached the point where I feel that I should say something,' Gaiman explained.
He said he read through his accusers' accounts of their relationships with him and found 'there are moments I half recognize and moments I don't, descriptions of things that happened sitting beside things that emphatically did not happen.
'I'm far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever,' Gaiman claimed.
The author also said he even went back and read through the messages he shared with the woman accusing him of sexual assault.
'These messages read now as they did when I received them - of two people enjoying entirely consensual sexual relationships and wanting to see one another again,' he said.
'At the time I was in those relationships, they seemed positive and happy on both sides.
'And I also realize, looking through them, years later, that I could have and should have done so much better,' the Coraline writer admitted.
'I was emotionally unavailable while being sexually available, self-focused and not as thoughtful as I could have or should have been.
'I was obviously careless with people's hearts and feelings, and that's something that I really, deeply regret. It was selfish of me.
'I was caught up in my own story and I ignored other people's.'
He is now trying to improve himself, he said.
Palmer, 48, formerly half of rock act the Dresden Dolls, is seen here arriving on the red carpet for the White Hiuse Correspondents' Dinner in Washington DC in April 2019
Neil Gaiman, 64, is the writer of books including The Sandman, American Gods and the children's book Coraline, and co-wrote Good Omens with author Terry Pratchett
'I've spent some months now taking a long, hard look at who I have been and how I have made people feel,' Gaiman told his readers.
'Like most of us, I'm learning and I'm trying to do the work needed, and I know that that's not an overnight process.
'I hope that with the help of good people, I'll continue to grow.
'I understand that not everyone will believe me or even care what I say but I'll be doing the work anyway, for myself and the people I love. I will be doing my very best to deserve their trust, as well as the trust of my readers.'
Still, he insisted, 'I don't accept there was any abuse.
'To repeat, I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone.'
'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,' he claimed.
'I am prepared to take responsibility for any missteps I made,' Gaiman concluded. 'I'm not willing to turn my back on the truth and I can't accept being described as someone I am not, and cannot and will not admit to doing things I didn't do.'
The author was first accused by five women in July of sexual assault, leading to the third season of Amazon's Good Omens being scrapped.
Even more women have since revealed disturbing details about their encounters with the American Gods writer in a shocking report from New York Magazine.
The Royal Society of Literature (RSL), which elected Gaiman as a fellow in 2018, has come under scrutiny for its silence.
The organisation declined to confirm whether it would revoke his fellowship and said the allegations were not discussed at its recent annual meeting.
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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Maybe attending sports events in person is too been-there, done-that in the modern age. So, apparently, is watching the actual action on a TV, laptop or phone. The Australian Open is getting in on the newest trend in the sports world by re-creating tennis matches in video-game form.
The year's first Grand Slam tournament, which runs through Jan. 26, is streaming real-time animated feeds on its YouTube channel that mimic what's happening in the three main stadiums.
Players are represented by characters that look like something out of a Wii game — not exactly perfect portrayals of Coco Gauff or Novak Djokovic, perhaps, but the graphics do try to show the correct outfit colors or hats and bandanas the athletes are wearing and reflect what is happening in the matches, with about a one-point delay.
“Sometimes I think it’s a very accurate (depiction) of the actual player that’s playing. So it’s weird. It’s funny and weird,” said 2021 U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, who will face Gauff in the third round Friday. “I did not see myself just yet. Maybe I will. Now I’m curious, because I’ve seen different players ... and I think I want to watch myself, too.”
Tennis Australia created its own “skins” to represent players, chair umpires and ball persons.
“The wonderful part of it is it’s the players’ actual movement. It’s the actual trajectory of the ball,” Machar Reid, Tennis Australia’s director of innovation, told The Associated Press. “We’re taking the real into the unreal. That’s part of the magic.”
Carlos Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam champion at age 21, called it “a good alternative.”
Like many players preparing for future opponents, Fernandez often scours YouTube to try to find footage of past matches to aid with scouting. That, Fernandez said with a chuckle, is how she accidentally discovered the cartoonish replays from Melbourne Park that have been creating a buzz among the competitors.
She was having trouble finding a certain match when she noticed a thumbnail photo of two players, Fernandez said.
“So I click on it and think, ’This is it! Finally! I have one,'” Fernandez said. Nope. It’s a Wii character, which is hilarious.”
Jiri Lehecka, a Czech player seeded 24th in Australia, was checking social media the other day when he came across a “replay” of 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev's avatar destroying a net camera by smacking it repeatedly with his racket during a first-round victory.
“I had no idea that something like that exists, so for me, it was quite funny to see that,” Lehecka said. “Maybe I will see myself as a game character one day. We will see.”
To get the chance, he'll need to play a match in Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena or John Cain Arena. Tennis Australia first experimented with this on one court during last year's tournament, hoping to attract gamers and a younger audience to the sport.
The NFL, NBA and NHL also have tried this type of approach, using animation for alternate game telecasts.
The 2024 debut in Melbourne “was kind of in stealth and didn’t necessarily capture the world’s imagination. But this year, we’ve seen that happening,” Reid said.
The streams in the first four days of the event this week drew more than 950,000 views, according to Tennis Australia; the figure for the same time period in 2024 was about 140,000.
“It’s part of our DNA to innovate and try to challenge the status quo or, in this instance, provide experiences to different groups of fans that are more personalized for them to consume,” Reid said. “We’re seeing younger kids or the gaming demographic gravitating to the sport maybe in this way. Clearly, it’s not for everyone.”
Might this eventually became the No. 1 way fans “watch” sports?
“Not in my lifetime and not in yours, I don’t think. But who knows? The world of sport and entertainment is moving so, so quickly,” Reid said. “But I think we’re always going to be drawn to the amazing athletes doing their thing in front of our very eyes.”
___
Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich
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 — Maybe attending sports events in person is too been-there, done-that in the modern age. So, apparently, is watching the actual action on a TV, laptop or phone. The Australian Open is getting in on the newest trend in the sports world by re-creating tennis matches in video-game form.
The year's first Grand Slam tournament, which runs through Jan. 26, is streaming real-time animated feeds on its YouTube channel that mimic what's happening in the three main stadiums.
Players are represented by characters that look like something out of a Wii game — not exactly perfect portrayals of Coco Gauff or Novak Djokovic, perhaps, but the graphics do try to show the correct outfit colors or hats and bandanas the athletes are wearing and reflect what is happening in the matches, with about a one-point delay.
“Sometimes I think it’s a very accurate (depiction) of the actual player that’s playing. So it’s weird. It’s funny and weird,” said 2021 U.S. Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, who will face Gauff in the third round Friday. “I did not see myself just yet. Maybe I will. Now I’m curious, because I’ve seen different players ... and I think I want to watch myself, too.”
Tennis Australia created its own “skins” to represent players, chair umpires and ball persons.
“The wonderful part of it is it’s the players’ actual movement. It’s the actual trajectory of the ball,” Machar Reid, Tennis Australia’s director of innovation, told The Associated Press. “We’re taking the real into the unreal. That’s part of the magic.”
Carlos Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam champion at age 21, called it “a good alternative.”
Like many players preparing for future opponents, Fernandez often scours YouTube to try to find footage of past matches to aid with scouting. That, Fernandez said with a chuckle, is how she accidentally discovered the cartoonish replays from Melbourne Park that have been creating a buzz among the competitors.
She was having trouble finding a certain match when she noticed a thumbnail photo of two players, Fernandez said.
“So I click on it and think, ’This is it! Finally! I have one,'” Fernandez said. Nope. It’s a Wii character, which is hilarious.”
Jiri Lehecka, a Czech player seeded 24th in Australia, was checking social media the other day when he came across a “replay” of 2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev's avatar destroying a net camera by smacking it repeatedly with his racket during a first-round victory.
“I had no idea that something like that exists, so for me, it was quite funny to see that,” Lehecka said. “Maybe I will see myself as a game character one day. We will see.”
To get the chance, he'll need to play a match in Rod Laver Arena, Margaret Court Arena or John Cain Arena. Tennis Australia first experimented with this on one court during last year's tournament, hoping to attract gamers and a younger audience to the sport.
The NFL, NBA and NHL also have tried this type of approach, using animation for alternate game telecasts.
The 2024 debut in Melbourne “was kind of in stealth and didn’t necessarily capture the world’s imagination. But this year, we’ve seen that happening,” Reid said.
The streams in the first four days of the event this week drew more than 950,000 views, according to Tennis Australia; the figure for the same time period in 2024 was about 140,000.
“It’s part of our DNA to innovate and try to challenge the status quo or, in this instance, provide experiences to different groups of fans that are more personalized for them to consume,” Reid said. “We’re seeing younger kids or the gaming demographic gravitating to the sport maybe in this way. Clearly, it’s not for everyone.”
Might this eventually became the No. 1 way fans “watch” sports?
“Not in my lifetime and not in yours, I don’t think. But who knows? The world of sport and entertainment is moving so, so quickly,” Reid said. “But I think we’re always going to be drawn to the amazing athletes doing their thing in front of our very eyes.”
___
Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich %23djokovic) |
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Twitter (X), Inc. was an American social media company based in San Francisco, California, which operated and was named for its flagship social media network prior to its rebrand as X. In addition to Twitter, the company previously operated the Vine short video app and Periscope livestreaming service
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