Federal judges in the United States have dismissed three lawsuits accusing bestselling fantasy author Neil Gaiman of sexually assaulting his children's nanny in New Zealand. The lawsuits were filed by Scarlett Pavlovich, who alleged that Gaiman assaulted her while she worked as the family's nanny in 2022.
Pavlovich filed suits against Gaiman and his wife, Amanda Palmer, in Wisconsin, Massachusetts, and New York in February 2025. She voluntarily dropped the New York case in June after a judge granted her request. The Wisconsin lawsuit against Palmer was also dropped in May, and the remainder was dismissed in October by US District Judge James Peterson, who ruled that the case should be pursued in New Zealand. Similarly, US District Judge Nathaniel Gorton dismissed the Massachusetts filing on the same grounds.
Pavlovich alleged that she was 22 and homeless when she met Palmer in Auckland in 2020, and later became the couple's nanny. She claimed Gaiman sexually assaulted her on the night they met in February 2022, and that the assaults continued. She said she stayed because she was broke and homeless, and Gaiman had promised to help her writing career. Pavlovich also alleged that Palmer knew of Gaiman's behaviour and presented her to him.
Gaiman's attorneys argued that the relationship was consensual and that New Zealand police had investigated the allegations and found them meritless. They described the lawsuits as a smear campaign. Gaiman has denied all allegations of sexual abuse.
