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Multiple projects involving novelist Neil Gaiman, known for books including Coraline and American Gods, have been paused or canceled altogether. Since July, Gaiman has been accused of sexual assault by a total of five women. The first two allegations were reported in a Tortoise podcast titled Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman. Another woman made her accusations in a separate podcast, Am I Broken: Survivor Stories. Two more women came forward with their experiences in a follow-up episode of Master, claiming they had signed NDAs. One of the women, Scarlett, is a former nanny of Gaiman’s and another, known as K, was a fan. Both allege Gaiman forced them into rough sex they didn’t consent to.
According to Tortoise, Gaiman “strongly denies any allegations of non-consensual sex with the women and adds New Zealand police did not take up his offer of assistance over one woman’s complaint in 2022.” The police say they made a “number of attempts to speak to key people as part of this investigation, and those efforts remain ongoing.” Below, the projects involving Gaiman or his works that have been paused by studios in the wake of the allegations.
The Prime Video series Good Omens, based on Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s novel, is currently on hold, according to a September 11 Deadline article. The show was renewed for a third and final season in December 2023 and is currently supposed to be in preproduction. Gaiman has reportedly offered to step back so the production can continue without his involvement.
Disney paused its film adaption of Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, a September 4 IndieWire report claims. Marc Forster (Monster’s Ball) is attached to direct, though Disney has not commented on whether production will resume.
The Netflix show Dead Boy Detectives was canceled on August 30, per Variety, though it has not been confirmed whether the cancelation was related to the allegations against Gaiman. Netflix is still set to air the upcoming second season of The Sandman, a drama based on Gaiman’s DC graphic-novel series.
