Coraline musical axed due to Neil Gaiman sexual assault allegations

Independent

29-01-2025

A planned musical version of Neil Gaiman 's Coraline will not move forward due to multiple sexual assault allegations against the author.
The stage adaptation of Gaiman's 2002 dark fantasy children's novella had been set to run at Leeds Playhouse from April 11 to May 11 before touring to Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester.
In a brief joint statement posted on Wednesday (January 29), co-production partners Leeds Playhouse, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Birmingham Rep, and HOME, Manchester said: 'We have decided our production of Coraline – A Musical will not proceed.
'After careful consideration, we feel it would be impossible to continue in the context of the allegations against its original author.'
The organizers added that ticket holders have been contacted directly via email.
Earlier this month, Gaiman denied engaging in 'non-consensual sexual activity' after accusations of assault by multiple women.
The American Gods author, 64, had been the subject of a lengthy New York magazine article that spoke to eight women who all accused him of sexual assault, including a long-term babysitter from New Zealand and a caretaker on his property in Woodstock, New York.
Gaiman responded to the allegations on January 14 in a blog post titled: 'Breaking the silence.'
'As I read through this latest collection of accounts, there are moments I half-recognise and moments I don't, descriptions of things that happened sitting beside things that emphatically did not happen. I'm far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever,' wrote Gaiman.
The author went on to say that he has reviewed correspondence with his accusers, writing: 'I went back to read the messages I exchanged with the women around and following the occasions that have subsequently been reported as being abusive. These messages read now as they did when I received them – of two people enjoying entirely consensual sexual relationships and wanting to see one another again. At the time I was in those relationships, they seemed positive and happy on both sides.'
However, he did acknowledge personal failings, adding: 'And I also realise, looking through them, years later, that I could have and should have done so much better. I was emotionally unavailable while being sexually available, self-focused and not as thoughtful as I could or should have been. I was obviously careless with people's hearts and feelings, and that's something that I really, deeply regret. It was selfish of me. I was caught up in my own story and I ignored other people's.'
Gaiman concluded his statement: 'Some of the horrible stories now being told simply never happened, while others have been so distorted from what actually took place that they bear no relationship to reality. I am prepared to take responsibility for any missteps I made. I'm not willing to turn my back on the truth, and I can't accept being described as someone I am not, and cannot and will not admit to doing things I didn't do.'
Since accusations against Gaiman first became public in a Tortoise podcast last July, several film and television adaptations of his work have been halted. It was announced last year that he is no longer a producer on Good Omens, the Prime Video series which will conclude with a single episode instead of a planned third series.
Disney paused production on a film adaptation of Gaiman's The Graveyard Book and Netflix canceled Dead Boy Detectives although that may not have been related to the allegations.
The second season of The Sandman is still expected to arrive on Netflix later this year, as is the Prime Video series Anansi Boys.