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Writer Neil Gaiman<\/a> denied sexual misconduct allegations first brought forth against him over a year and a half ago in a statement released Monday.<\/p>\n Gaiman, the bestselling fantasy author behind \u201cThe Sandman\u201d comic books, and novels and shows \u201cAmerican Gods\u201d and \u201cGood Omens,\u201d<\/a> called the allegations,<\/a> which emerged in the summer of 2024, a \u201csmear campaign\u201d that are \u201csimply and completely untrue.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThese allegations, especially the really salacious ones, have been spread and amplified by people who seemed a lot more interested in outrage and getting clicks on headlines rather than whether things had actually happened or not,\u201d Gaiman wrote. <\/p>\n Five women first accused the 65-year-old British author of sexual misconduct in the summer of 2024, appearing in the Tortoise Media podcast \u201cMaster: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman<\/a>.\u201d The women claimed Gaiman had them call him \u201cmaster\u201d during their alleged sexual encounters.<\/p>\n Eight women then accused the author of assault, abuse and coercion in an article published by New York magazine<\/a> just over a year ago. <\/p>\n Scarlett Pavlovich, Gaiman\u2019s former nanny, filed a lawsuit<\/a> against the author and his estranged wife Amanda Palmer, almost exactly a year ago, accusing the couple of human trafficking. She alleged that she was brutally and repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted by Gaiman while working for the couple without pay. <\/p>\n \u201cGaiman repeatedly physically and emotionally abused Scarlett, raping her vaginally and anally, humiliating her, forcing her into sexual conduct in front of Gaiman\u2019s child, and forcing her to touch and lick feces and urine,\u201d the complaint states. Gaiman called Pavlovich \u201cslave\u201d and ordered her to call him \u201cmaster,\u201d the complaint states.<\/p>\n The abuse took place while Pavlovich was providing babysitting services for the couple in New Zealand in 2022, according to the suit. <\/p>\n All other allegations against the author stemmed from the 1990s to 2022, when he was living in the United States, Britain and New Zealand.<\/p>\n The author has sold more than 50 million copies of his books worldwide, and many have received film and television adaptations over the years. His work drew a large female readership, typically uncommon for comic-book writers. The allegations clashed with the self-proclaimed feminist writer\u2019s public persona. <\/p>\n Gaiman has spent the last year out of the spotlight, after publishing company Dark Horse Comics cut ties<\/a> with him shortly after the New York magazine article was published. Gaiman was also dropped from various film and TV adaptations of his work, including the final season of Amazon\u2019s \u201cGood Omens\u201d<\/a> and the streamer\u2019s new \u201cAnansi Boys\u201d TV series. <\/p>\n