British author Neil Gaiman has been accused of sexual assault in lawsuits filed by a woman in the US.

The legal documents were filed in Wisconsin, Massachusetts and New York on Monday.

In January, Gaiman strenuously denied allegations of sexual assault made against him by eight women featured in a New York Magazine article. In a blog post, he said he was “far from a perfect person” but had “never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever”.

In the lawsuits, the female complainant accuses Gaiman of sexual assault, battery, violating human trafficking laws, and inflicting emotional distress

The woman is seeking at least $7m (about £5.6m) in damages.

Gaiman, who wrote the novel American Gods and The Sandman comic book series, as well as the children’s fantasy book Coraline, has had several works turned into films and television programmes in recent years.

In July, a Tortoise Media podcast included allegations made by five women against him. Four of these women were featured in the New York Magazine article last month.

Since the article, publisher Dark Horse Comics has cancelled upcoming work by Gaiman and a UK stage adaptation of Coraline has been scrapped.

What has Neil Gaiman said?

Writing in response to the allegations in January, Gaiman said he had watched stories about him circulating online for months with “horror and dismay”.

“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,” he wrote.

“I’m far from a perfect person, but I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity with anyone. Ever.”

Gaiman said he had reviewed messages exchanged with his accusers, and they read like “two people enjoying entirely consensual sexual relationships and wanting to see one another again”.

He said he now realised he “could have and should have done so much better”, that he was “emotionally unavailable while being sexually available, self-focused and not as thoughtful as I could or should have been”, and “obviously careless with people’s hearts and feelings”.

However, “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”, he said.

Sky News has contacted representatives for Gaiman for response to the lawsuits.

A judge has warned Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s lawyers to stop publicly discussing their competing lawsuits.

Both actors – who co-starred in 2024’s It Ends With Us – have filed lawsuits against each other following an initial legal complaint from Lively.

The 37-year-old accused Baldoni of sexual harassment on the set of the film – and an alleged subsequent plan to damage her reputation.

Baldoni then sued Lively and her husband Ryan Reynolds, accusing them of hijacking both the production and marketing of the film, as well as allegedly attempting to smear him and others who worked on the production through false allegations.

New York district court judge Lewis J Liman has scheduled a trial date combining the two claims for March 2026 – but warned both parties on Monday that their comments to the media could impact their cases.

Lively’s lawyer Michael Gottlieb complained that Baldoni’s lawyer Bryan Freedman violated professional ethics rules for lawyers by accusing the actress of “bullying” in People magazine.

He told a hearing at Manhattan federal court that “it’s very hard to un-ring the bell” and argued such statements could taint a jury pool.

But Mr Freedman complained “this has not been a one-way street”, and claimed his comments to the magazine and on a podcast were a response to a New York Times article from 21 December that “completely devastated” Baldoni.

Judge Liman has now adopted a state rule barring most out-of-court statements that could affect a case’s outcome – with an exception to protect clients from prejudicial adverse publicity. Neither lawyer objected.

Lively’s legal team have previously accused Mr Freedman in a court filing of trying to influence potential jurors by creating a website to release selected documents and communications between her and Baldoni.

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In late December, Lively sued Baldoni, his production company Wayfarer Studios and others in New York for sexual harassment and attacks on her reputation, asking for unspecified damages.

Baldoni then filed his lawsuit in January, accusing Lively and her husband, Deadpool star and Wrexham FC co-owner Reynolds, of defamation and extortion. He is seeking at least $400m (£321m) in damages.

The actor also sued The New York Times newspaper for libel after it published allegations about him.

Lively starred in the 2005 film The Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants before rising to fame in the TV series Gossip Girl from 2007 to 2012. She is also known for films including The Town and The Shallows.

Baldoni is known for the TV comedy series Jane The Virgin and for directing the 2019 film Five Feet Apart. He also wrote Man Enough – a book pushing back against traditional notions of masculinity.

Actor and comedian Brian Murphy has died aged 92.

Best known for his role in the 1970s sitcoms Man About The House and George And Mildred, news of his passing was shared by his wife Hi-de-Hi! actress Linda Regan.

Posting a picture of her kissing her husband, she said: “My love for you will never die. RIP sweetheart.”

Murphy first came to prominence playing landlord George Roper in Man About The House, starring alongside the late Yootha Joyce.

The show began in 1973 and was considered controversial for the time because it featured two single women living with a man.

When it ended in 1976, Murphy and Joyce starred in the spin-off, George And Mildred, which ran for five series until 1979.

He also starred as Alvin Smedley in Last Of The Summer Wine.

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Born on the Isle of Wight, Murphy was a member of the Theatre Workshop, founded by Joan Littlewood, and was a jobbing actor before appearing in TV shows including Z-Cars.

In 1993, he starred in the first major stage version of the HG Wells science fiction classic The Invisible Man.

More recently, Murphy appeared in TV shows including the BBC’s Holby City and ITV’s Benidorm.