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Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Coraline's musical play adaptation cancelled amid sexual misconduct allegations against Neil Gaiman
LONDON, Jan 30 – A planned stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel Coraline has been cancelled following allegations of sexual misconduct against the author. The Guardian reported that in a joint statement yesterday, event venues Leeds Playhouse, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Birmingham Rep, and Home Manchester announced they would not proceed with the performance. 'After careful consideration, we feel it would be impossible to continue in the context of the allegations against its original author. Ticket holders have been contacted directly via email,' they reportedly said. The musical was scheduled to run at Leeds from April 11 to May 11 before touring to Edinburgh, Birmingham, and Manchester. Coraline, published in 2002, follows an 11-year-old girl who discovers a portal in her new home leading to an alternate reality inhabited by eerie doppelgängers of her parents. The story gained widespread popularity in 2009 with a stop-motion animated adaptation directed by Henry Selick. The cancelled musical adaptation was written by playwright Zinnie Harris with music by composer Louis Barabbas and was to be directed by James Brining. Gaiman has been accused of sexual misconduct by nine women. The allegations first surfaced last July when Tortoise Media reported on claims of sexual assault by two women. This month, entertainment online magazine Vulture published an investigation detailing accusations from four additional women, including claims of nonconsensual BDSM. Gaiman has denied the allegations, stating on his website that he has 'never engaged in nonconsensual sexual activity with anyone.'
The Independent
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Coraline musical axed due to Neil Gaiman sexual assault allegations
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.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Stage adaptation of Coraline scrapped after Neil Gaiman allegations
A stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman's book Coraline has been scrapped following sexual misconduct allegations about the author. Gaiman, 64, has denied the allegations and said he has 'never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever'. Co-production partners, Leeds Playhouse, Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, and Home Manchester, said in a joint statement: '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. 'Ticket holders have been contacted directly via email.' Coraline is a dark fantasy children's novel that tells the story of a young girl who unlocks a door into a different and unusual world. Hollywood actress Dakota Fanning and comedians Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders were among the stars who lent their voices to a film adaptation in 2009. The musical was due to be staged at Leeds Playhouse from April 11 to May 11 before touring to Manchester, Birmingham and Edinburgh. In a blog post, earlier this month, the author said he had read the allegations with 'horror and dismay', following claims made by eight women against the writer in an article published by New York Magazine. The allegations were made public in July 2024 when a Tortoise Media podcast series reported on sexual assault allegations against Gaiman by five women. Since the allegations first surfaced, several film and TV adaptations of Gaiman's stories have reportedly been affected, including season three of Good Omens, which he jointly wrote with Terry Pratchett, and a film of The Graveyard Book. On Saturday, Dark Horse Comics, a publisher of Gaiman's graphic novels and comic books, said it was no longer releasing his work. 'Confirming that the Anansi Boys comic series and collected volume have been cancelled,' the company said in a statement. In January 2023 a police report was made in New Zealand accusing Gaiman of sexual assault. The investigation was later dropped.
The Guardian
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Stage adaptation of Coraline cancelled after allegations against Neil Gaiman
A stage version of Neil Gaiman's Coraline has been cancelled after allegations of sexual misconduct against the author. The musical was to have been staged at Leeds Playhouse from 11 April to 11 May before touring to Edinburgh, Birmingham and Manchester. In a joint statement on Wednesday, the 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. Ticket holders have been contacted directly via email.' Published in 2002, Coraline is a children's fable about an 11-year-old girl who discovers a portal in the wall of her new flat. On the far side are her other mother and father, parents almost identical to her own but with buttons for eyes and evil intent. The story found a new audience 15 years ago as a stop-motion animation by Henry Selick. The new musical was adapted by the playwright Zinnie Harris and the composer Louis Barabbas, and was to have been directed by Leeds Playhouse's artistic director, James Brining. Nine women have accused Gaiman of sexual misconduct. The allegations were first made public last July when Tortoise Media reported on sexual assault allegations against Gaiman by two women. By the end of August, three more women had come forward with allegations. This month Vulture published an investigation in which four further women accused Gaiman of assault, including nonconsensual BDSM. Gaiman published a statement on his website saying he had 'never engaged in nonconsensual sexual activity with anyone'. Since then, there have been many cancellations of his works. On Monday the US publisher Dark Horse Comics announced it had cancelled plans to publish future Gaiman works, saying it took seriously the allegations against the author. Dark Horse Comics began publishing the Anansi Boys series, an adaptation of Gaiman's 2005 novel, in June last year. It was intended to be an eight-issue series but has now been cancelled after the seventh issue, published on 15 January. HarperCollins, which publishes many of Gaiman's books in the US, including Coraline and American Gods, told Publishers Weekly that it did not have any new books by Gaiman scheduled. WW Norton, the US publisher of Gaiman's book Norse Mythology, said it would not have projects with the author in future, though it did not say whether this was connected to the allegations. Marvel Comics has no new works by Gaiman in progress, according to the New York Times. Prime Video's Good Omens, based on the novel by Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, will now end with one 90-minute episode instead of a full third season, while a Disney film adaptation of Gaiman's 2008 young adult novel The Graveyard Book, which was in development, was put on hold. Neither streamer has confirmed that these decisions were taken because of the allegations.
BBC News
29-01-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Neil Gaiman: Coraline stage adaptation cancelled after allegations against author
A stage adaptation of Coraline has been cancelled following sexual misconduct allegations against the book's original author Neil - A Musical had been due to play at the Leeds Playhouse, Birmingham Rep and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh later this year. But a joint statement posted by the venues on Wednesday said: "After careful consideration, we feel it would be impossible to continue in the context of the allegations against its original author."Gaiman, 64, has denied allegations of sexual misconduct made by eight women, saying he has "never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever". Coraline, a dark fantasy horror children's novella was first published in 2002, and made into an animated film in three venues due to host the stage adaptation said ticket holders had been contacted directly via details to follow
