J.K Rowling likens Neil Gaiman to Harvey Weinstein, condemns literary circle for silence

The 'Harry Potter' writer criticised the silence around Neil Gaiman's case involving sexual assault allegations.

J.K Rowling took to X, to codemn the silence surrounding Neil Gaiman who has recently been accused of sexual assault by four more women. The Harry Potter writer compared the situation to the #MeToo movement at the center of which was Harvey Weinstein, a former film producer and convicted sex offender. 

In her social media post shortly after the New York Magazine released the accounts of four more women who experienced assault at the hands of the Good Omens writer, Rowling compared Gaiman to Weinstein – who is currently in prison for rape.

https://www.vulture.com/article/neil-gaiman-allegations-controversy-amanda-palmer-sandman-madoc.html

“The literary crowd that had a hell of a lot to say about Harvey Weinstein before he was convicted has been strangely muted in its response to multiple accusations against Neil Gaiman from young women who’d never met, yet — as with Weinstein — tell remarkably similar stories,” Rowling posted.

The literary crowd that had a hell of a lot to say about Harvey Weinstein before he was convicted has been strangely muted in its response to multiple accusations against Neil Gaiman from young women who'd never met, yet - as with Weinstein - tell remarkably similar stories.

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 13, 2025

 

Gaiman was initially accused by five women who were featured in a podcast titled Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman. The latest four women opened up aboutequally disturbing accounts of the author crossing boundaries and implementing his control over them for sex. Two of the women were previously employed by Gaiman while the other pair were fans of the writer.

One accuser, Scarlett Pavlovich alleged that she was repeatedly assaulted while babysitting for Gaiman’s son and coerced her into degrading acts that violated consent.

Another accuser who worked for Gaiman detailed an incident involving inappropriate behavior while his child was present and claimed that she signed an NDA and received a settlement of $300,000. A fan, Katherine Kendall, who was 22 when she met the writer, was also paid $60,000 by the author for therapy. 

Due to these scandals, Gaiman's Hollywood projects and adaptations have suffered. Prime Video has downgraded the adaptation of Good Omens to a 90-minute finale while Disney has halted work on the adaptation of The Graveyard Book. Netflix's Sandman season 2 however, remains on track to be released.