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Apart from the podcasts and this article, is there an actual complaint? An ongoing lawsuit? Or are we talking about burning Gaiman's books just on the basis of allegations spread on the net? To think that he could be a horrible person or that he is actually a twisted offender are different things.

Was just thinking of Whedon and also Sherman Alexi. *Deep sigh* This is why we can't have nice things...

famous here back then-, to the point that she didn't remember his full name afterwards and she still found him really nice and personable. So it seems that he was just very good at projecting that façade.

I've had perhaps a dozen interactions with him over the years, and he has always been wonderful towards me (remembering my name, even) and there was nothing in it for him except interacting with a fan. I would so have liked him to be genuinely a good person.

There was no way you could have known anything. The predators trade is a grimly secretive one.

@michaelchabon.bsky.social is mentioned in the article.

I'm glad you reposted this. We need to out predators in any space

It was paywalled when I viewed on Bluesky on iPhone, but I could read it when I went to Safari.

As chilling as it is, I think there's also an element of truly having kindness, respect, and empathy for people the abuser categorizes as "person," while the abuser has none of those things for anyone they categorize as "target."

You never, ever really know someone else. Human predators have to be under extreme stress before their "acceptableness" masks slip. It's what makes them successful predators.

I used to be part of a fansite back in the early 2000s - one of the guys there later became a budding writer, who was then ousted from that community as a manipulative, exploitative abuser. I didn't know him well, but I was quite shocked about this; there never seemed an indication he was like that.

The only time he hit on *me*, I was in the middle of sub-heading a convention and had zero free time. My response was something like, "You've got to be kidding." He politely accepted NO for an answer. We can chat some other time about my experiences of unwanted advances. Folks regret doing it.

Read it earlier today and it's a gut punch.

When most people we know aren’t criminals, it is hard to deal with the ones that are when it comes out.

The amount of brokenness in this story is heartbreaking.

Exactly! We know many men act differently in male-only spaces. We need men to do the work there.

You are also going to hear a lot of "It's always the male feminists" from the worst people.

nothing in this one, but a linked article said that the show was originally renewed for a third season, but will now end with a single 90 min episode. gaiman contributed to the writing but won't be involved with production. no comments from anyone, at least in this article

Nope. Nobody from that show has breathed a word about this, to my knowledge.

No. It only mentions the show in context of filming during certain dates, and its existence on Amazon.

It seems ironic, but we have no words.

I know, and it's in Sir Terry's honor that it wasn't immediately trashed.

I don't think that's ever possible, to separate the art from the artist. Those who argue for it are looking for excuses to enjoy the art without owning up to the realities of the person who produced it and how many and in what ways they hurt others.

Yep, same.

His behavior started long before he thought he and Bezos were pals, though. I blame scientology as a source of the problem, but that absolutely doesn't negate his responsibility as a grown man.

Yeah. This was a doozy.

Aside from everything already said by others, I hope his victims, including all of his kids, get therapy and the support they need. Oof.

As someone in the Friday night Funkin and Roblox fandoms, it happens way too commonly for me. Please make the drama stop.

That's what I said when I unsubscribed from her mailing list. Not a good person.

Confirming the cruel toxic mimic always in his hungry ghost writing. Everything faux real will never be the peer of Terry Pratchett.

I knew where it was headed, but I could not have guessed how monstrous it became.

Absolutely agreed. What an awful, narcissistic, egotistical person.

I met him for 30 seconds at a signing line at a local con. He was charming and friendly. He drew a funny/creepy face in a Sandman Trade as he signed it saying it was now a muich creepier book. It was hilarious and I laughed heartily. I don't think I can look at that book, now. Maybe much later.

News sources/magazines if you have a pay wall I will block you.

I had given up on any further reporting. We had a quote of his on our bookstore wall that we painted over months ago. No one has noticed or commented. I'm glad I don't have to stare at it every day at work anymore.

There was a NY Times article a few months ago but it was light on details.

He even had a book release.

Thanks for being wife guy.

deepest disappointment and horror...

The last thing I remembering him doing was a Oct ‘23 live stream conversation with a rabbi who had written a book “On repentance and repair” which seemed really generous of him considering how large his platform was. Now feels like a verse in “Ironic”

I'm not sure I'm on board with viewing every horror and dark fantasy writer as potentially an abuser. I suspect that it's Gaiman's gifts as an artist that made his darkness visible to us; that is to say, there are many people with the same darkness but lacking those gifts who are just as dangerous.

I read it. It’s horrible. I interviewed him once, hung out with him at a film festival, and considered it a high point of my blogging career. And now I’m just horrified because I can absolutely see this darkness as plausible and was blind to it.

Agreed. I’m thinking all the swear words.

Oh bloody hell. This is just horrible.

I couldn’t get through all of it, it was depressing. Guys fucking keep it in your pants. The world is literally over filled with these kinds of stories that you KNOW what you’re doing.

Same.

When an artist turns out to be this much of a scumbag, it has an area of effect. Everything they created becomes soiled by association. The list of things I will never read or watch again because of him is quite long.

Paywalled, and I am glad not to be able to read this, in a way. "Heartbroken about all of it" tells me everything.

Thanks for articulating what I felt but couldn’t express clearly about Marion Zimmer Bradley and Orson Scott Card and now this person.

I guess I'm fortunate that I've no association the way I have with other works like Terry's.

Same here. I’m a big fan of the discworld novels, and enjoyed Good Omens a lot too. But I only ever got a few chapters into American Gods and Anansi Boys before losing interest.

Someone in another reply said Meryl Streep didn't know about Weinstein because he needed her not to know. She was part of his cover. It seems plausible to me that the same is true here. Terry wouldn't have known because it was necessary to the illusion that he not.

I don't... I just hope he never knew. Someone else said that Gaiman had a persona, and I've seen that in person... hopefully, terribly, that persona fooled and still fools everyone not involved - it's a hard thing to hope for, because of what it means. I hate all of this.

I read a statement by Tori Amos saying that she was heartbroken. And she was RAINN's spokesperson for years. Predators groom witnesses, not just victims.

I'm with you there...

☝️

I have to say I was mentally screaming run away through the narrative leading to the assault. So many red flags.

Precisely this. Mourning the man I thought he was.

Christ, this is soul-sickening to read. It's hard to find words.

Absolutely horrific, more so for the victims. I mean, somehow I am reminded of Calliope in his series and now I am disgusted.

I had listened to the first four podcasts. Took them with a grain of salt. But even if you stripped it down to the stuff he admitted to (albeit saying it was consensual) it sounded at the very least extremely creepy. The article has some extra info; too much to stay on the fence about it.

Just a reminder that the people we admire, idolise, are inspired by etc are just people and subject to being deeply flawed, deceitful and just down right dastardly as any one of us might be or become.

FFS this si terrible. Painful to read. Hope the abused ladies will find any help they need... Why so many talented people turn out to be abusers?

If the statements about their son being present during violent sex acts are accurate, it is wrong to leave a child in unsupervised custody of either parent. They are dissemblers, incapable of arranging for proper, capable child care, or prioritizing their young boy.

I absolutely hate it when someone so talented and who has gifted us with storytelling turns out to be such a monster. It feels like such a betrayal, and guilt for enjoying his work. Very brave of her to tell her story, I hope she finds some peace.

Wow. Wow. I have no words. Just heartbreak.

That quote resonated with me too.

I use to think that some artists had an ineffable, not sure that's the right word, quality that drove their art but God damn it's apparently just sexual deviancy for almost every cis male.

I'm definitely sadder about this than that other Brit with ongoing foot-in mouth. While I still want to read some of his work that I haven't gotten to yet, none of that will be acquired through new purchases.

I'm so sickened and disheartened by all of this, like all of us who found our way to John's post. The thing that I can't stop thinking about (that's absolutely making it worse) is that Neil is likely to become a darling of the "your body, my choice" crowd. I bet he finds a whole new fandom.

Use archive.is

Agreed.

There’s a bit at the end of the article where some of the victims realized that they all fit a physical type, it’s like AP was scouting out for women of his type, and then putting them in his proximity.

Reading just this is so disgusting!!!! I can't read the whole thing!!! OMG those women!!!!😭😭😭💔💔💔💔

She was also having sex with 20 year old fans when she was in her 30s. Both the age gap and the power imbalance are beyond creepy, and then just passing her on to her abusive husband? Unforgivable

I'm stunned. I guess I shouldn't be.

Deeply unpleasant reading. I do hope the women involved get some sort of justice. The worst monsters often hide in plain sight.

Exactly. It is just horrible all around - nothing can excuse what he did to his victims, but learning that he was quite likely the victim of the Scientology cult as a kid just makes an awful circumstance even worse. Hopefully his victims can find peace and break the cycle of trauma.

And Scientology, yikes-a-rama! The cult stuff is so creepy and abusive. While reading the piece, the thought occurred to me that similar behaviors are likely going on in the Trump/Christofascist cult(s).

bsky.app/profile/scie...

That’s unfortunate. That said, what he’s saying in this post is still valid.

Some folks are having a go at Wil Wheaton for not stepping up regarding sexual assault allegations of his “best friend”. It’s unfortunate that he was silent. Perhaps he was too close to the situation to objectively comment? That said, what he says in this post is still valid.

bsky.app/profile/scie...

When I met Gaiman and Amanda Palmer in 2013 at an event in Shoreditch-London, UK… He had artwork on display from artists who have worked on his books, graphic novels, etc… It is a collaboration for much of his work… to the point it’s incorporated into events he attends