this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2025
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The Good Omens Kickstarter was set up to fund the creation of a graphic novel adaptation by Colleen Doran of the Good Omens novel by Sir Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. A remarkably successful crowdfunding scheme, it raised £2,419,973 from 36,867 backers. The Terry Pratchett Estate, which runs the Good Omens Kickstarter, had offered refunds to donors after the original Tortoise Media allegations until last November. However, the estate now says that it "will no longer maintain this freeze in light of new articles and allegations. While we cannot speak further on the subject at present, we have chosen to reopen a short refund window for those who would no longer like to support the graphic novel until Friday, 7th February 2025."

They also state that "It has also been agreed that Neil Gaiman will not receive any proceeds from the graphic novel Kickstarter. Given the project management, production and all communication has always been under the jurisdiction of the Estate on behalf of Good Omens at large, this will not fundamentally change the project itself, however we can confirm the Kickstarter and PledgeManager will now fully be an entity run by, and financially connected to, the Terry Pratchett Estate only."

And for those who still want the book but might want to change the donor rewards, they say, "a number of tiers also come with author merchandise and books; we have been working on a system in the back end to remove or swap out particular rewards from tiers, should you wish to continue with the project, but not receive these specific items" and donors are encouraged to contact the Estate with their wishes. However, they state that those who received cameo appearances in the project cannot have them removed at this stage of the production process.

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[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Has there been any conclusive evidence on the allegations against Gaiman? I've not really followed the case since it first came up, but a quick google search didn't really yield any updates.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Even the stuff he has admitted to is pretty damning. At the very least he has forced himself on at least one defenseless woman much younger than him and financially dependent on him that couldn't really say "no" to his aggressive advances. And his ex-wife also knew about this sort of behaviour since it was nothing new and left the woman alone with Gaiman anyway.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

So he admitted to anything? That's the kind of update I was looking for, what I saw were just the allegations without any follow-up.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

TW: rape, etc.

Tap for spoilerFrom what I remember reading, he admitted a lot of pretty fucked up stuff but claims it was consensual, like rape fantasy/role-play, forced ass-to-mouth, free-use type stuff.

The person who brought a lot of the details forward was his son's nanny and also makes claims that he forced her to have sex while the kid was in the room, watching a movie on a tablet, and other really fucked up stuff.

Also, I'm not trying to kink shame anyone, but anything that's legitimately nonconsensual or is done in the presence of a minor is beyond the pale

I don't remember the source but it was a long-form interview with one of the women who have brought the allegations forward and presents a lot of the perspective of both Gaiman and his ex-wife (the lead singer of the Dresden Dolls, but I forget her name; Amanda something, iirc)

Edit: it was definitely the same person from New Zealand, so likely the same source linked elsewhere in the comments. I don't like hearing these allegations about someone whose work I respect, but it's starting to look pretty damning

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 days ago (1 children)

I'm not sure what evidence you are looking for - a number of women have given similar accounts of non-consensual encounters with Gaiman (the most recent report). As it stands, the New Zealand police aren't pressing charges (although with new victims they should probably take another look at this) so those are accounts are likely to be the only proof for the time being.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Yeah I was looking for factual evidence, there have been too many false allegations against celebrities in recent years to take those at face value. Not saying it didn't happen, but I don't want to approach things with a clouded judgement.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It’s 15 women altogether at this point, and there are accounts of different women that never spoke to each other whose stories match up too. But if you’re looking for a recording, a confession, or DNA evidence- no, that hasn’t surfaced yet.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

Jesus, let a guy have violent anal sex won't you? But seriously, I felt like something was off about the guy after his exchange with Graham Linehan, it seemed way too performative.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I honestly think if all secrets were revealed very few people would prove worthy. Practically no one depending on high you set the standard.

[–] fsxylo 4 points 1 day ago

Sure, but I've never raped anyone so we can start the bar there?

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 days ago (2 children)

Ok, there is a short window for refunding. But will the book be published? This PR is a bit confusing. If I had participated in the kickstart, I would be confused now if I should ask for a refund or not.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 days ago

It appears to still be on, and that Gaiman will not receive any of the money from it.

The refund is for people who don't want to support Gaiman at any level, even creatively.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 days ago

Best I can tell, it is pretty much ready to go (Colleen Doran has already been paid for her work) and will be published. I assume when they close the next refund window they'll then know the length of the print run and could pull the trigger.

It appears the only issue is if you paid to be in the comic and, as the art is done, there'll be no money back there.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

They had to do something and this is something. I might have preferred to see his cut go to charity but this should some who backed the project stay onboard.