Amanda Palmer announces separation from Neil Gaiman on Patreon

Love in the Time of Coronavirus is a helluva thing, and, unfortunately, it’s already pushed more than a few couples to the breaking point. Just ask iconic fantasy author Neil Gaiman, who is seeing news of his separation spread to the populace without his consent.

Gaiman’s longtime partner, Amanda Palmer of Dresden Dolls and a multitude of other musical projects, announced their breakup on Twitter and Patreon on Monday. In a post entitled, “where’s neil? a note about what’s happening,” she revealed that she’s currently under COVID-19 lockdown in New Zealand with her and Gaiman’s 4-year-old son, Ash, while he’s moved back to the U.K.

“Since people are getting confused and asking and my phone and inbox is blowing up with ‘where‘s Neil’? a few times a minute….I can only gather that he’s finally told the internet that he’s left New Zealand, and I thought I would come here with a short note,” wrote Palmer, who probably could’ve checked his social media accounts to see if this were true before posting, but we digress.

“So you all know: this did not happen because of COVID or lockdown, though the timing is comically bad; other things came to light after we got here to New Zealand,” wrote Palmer, “…in fairness to all, and to keep little Ash (who will not always be little) protected, the details aren’t for the public.”

“It appears that I was was on tour for a year talking about the extreme dark and light for a reason. I was in training for this week…it seems that my life was not rehearsal for my show…the show was a rehearsal for my life,” she added, which, hoo boy.

Anyway, all this apparently was news to Neil, who responded on Twitter with some (very thinly veiled) dramatic snark of his own.

“I see @amandapalmer has told people that we (like much of the world) are going through rocky times right now,” he tweeted, further confirming that no one starting a sentence with “I see” is in the best of moods.

Palmer and Gaiman, who married in 2011, have long been a power couple in the “Theater Kid-Turned-Steampunk Cosplayer” scene, so we can only imagine the devastation currently being experienced by who use words like “haberdashery” and “palimpsest.” Still, our genuine condolences to the Palmer-Gaiman clan, with hopes that they reach a respectful outcome for everyone involved.

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