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The fall of once-beloved writer Neil Gaiman continues to play out in real-time before us. While last month more details of his alleged sexual and financial abuse came to light and publishers cut ties with the bestselling author, this month sees the writer and his estranged wife Amanda Palmer being sued for $1 million by one of his accusers. The Sandman writer has now been accused of human trafficking and holding a woman “economic hostage” in his home in New Zealand.

As you can probably guess, we’ll be talking about some pretty harrowing subjects here. While we won’t go into detail, there will be mention of modern slavery, sexual assault, rape, and human trafficking.

The new lawsuit was filed in Wisconsin, where Gaiman has a home, and in New York and Massachusetts, where Palmer resides, and paints both in a devastating light. Scarlett Pavlovich has filed the lawsuit under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in the United States. The lawsuit says that Pavlovich first came into contact with Palmer in 2020. The two became friendly and Palmer eventually offered a job as a live-in nanny for her and Gaiman’s children. Pavlovich’s lawsuit says that Palmer “knowingly recruited Scarlett to come to Waiheke with the intention of obtaining Scarlett’s uncompensated labor."

In a new wrinkle in the case, the lawsuit against Gaiman and Palmer suggests that Palmer had been aware of her husband’s history of sexual misconduct. It says that Palmer warned Gaiman that Pavlovich was in a vulnerable place and that he should “stay away” from her before she was brought on to babysit. However, Palmer never warned Pavlovich of the danger posed by Gaiman and his alleged history of abusing women.

This, the lawsuit suggests, makes Amanda Palmer an accomplice to the multiple acts of rape and sexual abuse that Neil Gaiman is accused of committing against Pavlovich. Lawyers for Pavlovich have suggested that she should be compensated in “excess of $1,000,000.00” for the physical and emotional harm that befell her while she was in Neil Gaiman’s employ.

As of the time of writing, neither Neil Gaiman nor Amanda Palmer have responded to this development publicly. Gaiman has previously denied any allegations of nonconsensual sexual activity with the multiple women who have come forward to accuse him in recent months.

While Neil Gaiman has denied abuse allegations, it's time for fans to reckon with their own relationship with the author, argues Popverse editor-in-chief Chris Arrant.