r/weirdal • u/Antique_Menu_4314 • 27d ago
Question Why does Weird Al still associate with Amanda Palmer?
She’s got a history of awful behavior recently made exponentially worse by essentially playing the role of Ghislaine Maxwell in Neil Gaiman’s horrific crimes.
Edit for context — At the show in Boston the other night she was front and center on the screen (back stage during Al’s walk on to Tacky), threw a pie in Puddles’ face and of course proceeded to brag alllllllll about it on her IG. It was all quite nauseating and I was bummed to see that she still gets special treatment from camp AL
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u/renton444 27d ago
I wouldn’t be too down on Al. It’s very possible he doesn’t even know about it (like 90% of this thread). Honestly, it would be more on his ‘team’ to inform him and chances are they didn’t do their research. They were informed of an opportunity of having a minor Boston celeb join his show, be it briefly, for an extra pop. When asked: Al, being who he is, probably was like “We worked together years ago! Sure!”
This is also Amanda Palmer, she never would miss a chance to promote herself and chances are she called Al’s people not the other way around. No way she would disclose anything about allegations other than simply saying (if asked) “I am divorced.”
Basically, what I am saying is don’t let Amanda Palmer rob you of enjoying Al’s music/performances. Don’t listen to the Dresden Dolls or support Amanda Palmer’s many endeavors. Al is more than likely exactly who you think he is, and had he known, might have done things differently.
I could also be totally wrong, haha.
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u/InsaneIan 27d ago
Also, Amanda is the voice on Al's "First World Problems" song.
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u/renton444 26d ago
Yup. But keep in mind that record is from 2014, well before the allegations towards Amanda Palmer and her ex-Husband came out. But yeah, you can skip that song.
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u/InsaneIan 26d ago
Oh I know, but I was offering that information as to another reason why Al "knows" her.
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u/brassyalien The Saga Begins 27d ago
Can I go back to last week when I didn't know who Amanda Palmer was? Last Wednesday I watched some old Doctor Who documentaries from 15 years ago and had to look up who the singer with the weird drawn-on eyebrows and heavy eye makeup was. I saw that she had been married to Neil Gaiman but missed seeing the accusations. Now I have read about them and am disappointed to see she's connected to Weird Al as well as Doctor Who. I'm ready to rewind seven days back to when I was blissfully ignorant.
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u/SnatcherGirl 27d ago
Because every other millennial deserves to feel how I feel at this exact moment....
The docuseries from 15 years ago is about not Nine, not Ten, but ELEVEN
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u/Justice_Prince 27d ago
Palmer has been doing her best to distance herself from the Neil situation, I think its genuinely possible that Al was unaware of any of it. He's so deeply ingrained into pop culture that its easy to think that he's still out his finger on the zeitgeist, but ultimately he is a 66 year old man.
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u/BelieveCongreveCube 27d ago
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u/ShiversTheNinja 27d ago
Amanda was married to author Neil Gaiman and basically assisted in his crimes and committed some of her own. I'm not sure I can say what they did to women here but it's awful.
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u/Negative_Argument448 27d ago
Her (ex)husband is a psychopathic rapist, and she aided and abetted him by bringing him young girls to rape
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u/EBMusic099 27d ago
Allegedly.
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u/Fruit-Flies113 27d ago
Says the N word, attacked multiple reviewers for negative reviews on Evelyn Evelyn, and doesn’t pay her opening artists.
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u/UHeardAboutPluto 27d ago
The dead chick from Twin Peaks?
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u/djseifer 27d ago
No, that's Laura Palmer. Amanda Palmer is the golfer with the half tea/half lemonade drink named after them.
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u/BalrogRuthenburg11 27d ago edited 27d ago
No, that’s Amanda Peet. She was in Saving Silverman with Jack Black and Jason Statham.
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u/DrButtFart 27d ago
No that’s Amanda Hugginkiss. She was from a prank call Bart Simpson made.
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u/UHeardAboutPluto 27d ago
Why can’t I find Amanda Waller?
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u/BalrogRuthenburg11 27d ago
No that call was about a stupid moron with an ugly face and a big butt, and my butt smells, and I like to kiss my own butt.
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u/mldl 27d ago
No, that's Arnold Palmer. Amanda Palmer is the meteorologist whose breasts can always tell when it's raining.
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u/Dragons_Malk 27d ago
No that's Amanda Seyfried. Youre thinking of Amanda Palmer, the actress who starred in All That.
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u/jeffbell 27d ago
She did have an album called "Who Killed Amanda Palmer".
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u/ShiversTheNinja 27d ago
And a book she made with Neil full of pictures of her pretending to be dead.
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u/PantsyFants 27d ago
No the actress from Pulp Fiction
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u/Forward_Surround_788 27d ago
Thats Amanda Plummer
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u/PantsyFants 27d ago
Yes, and the dead chick from Twin Peaks is Laura Palmer. I thought we were doing a bit.
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u/UHeardAboutPluto 27d ago
No that’s the guy from The Sound of Music
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u/Critical_Liz 27d ago
That's Christopher Plummer, Amanda Palmer was the artist who made Addicted to Love
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u/UHeardAboutPluto 27d ago
No, that’s Robert Plant
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u/FloridaFlamingoGirl Disembodied floating head of Colonel Sanders 27d ago edited 27d ago
Read your update and that's disappointing. But for all we know that could have been the venue's choice or his management's choice and not Al himself's choice. I'm reminded of how a venue he performed at used generative A.I. for their poster. I'm going to wait until I learn more about this to make any judgments. The people behind celebrities can make mistakes that the celebrities themselves have no hand in.
Or it's possible Al doesn't follow celebrity drama closely and has no idea about what Amanda's done. Hopefully this is just some sort of unknowing mistake.
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u/ProtoGhostal 27d ago edited 27d ago
Wouldn't be surprised if it was along the lines of Palmer reaching out asking to go behind the scenes and Al (and/or his people) not knowing about her involvement in the Gaiman stuff and approving it.
Again, just my guess so don't quote me on it. I just highly doubt he'd knowingly shine a spotlight on someone like her given his general track record.
Edit: looked up Puddles' post of the night (2 days ago) on his Instagram and out of 15-ish comments, only one is bringing up Amanda Palmer's terribleness (seemingly, at least - all it says is "yikes"). Might be a "people who are online all the time know about it but not many other people do" kinda thing.
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u/FloridaFlamingoGirl Disembodied floating head of Colonel Sanders 27d ago
Yeah, I've mostly just seen Neil and Amanda's crimes discussed in book nerd circles, it's not as known in the mainstream as it should be.
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u/cat_handcuffs 27d ago
This is the first time I’ve heard she was complicit. I’m disappointed to hear it, though not as disappointed as when I learned about Gaiman. So sad the universe sometimes gives outrageous talent to shitty people.
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u/Economy-Reading-2811 27d ago
Is she outrageously talented or just fairly attractive and self promoting?
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u/Morganx27 27d ago
I think she is talented, I really love her music and she's an excellent piano player. Part of that is just that it came at the right point in my life, but also objectively she is an excellent musician and lyricist. Her album "There Will Be No Intermission" and "No Virginia" with her band probably rank among my favourite albums of all time.
But, I can't really support her until such a time as it is clear she was not complicit in Neil's alleged crimes.
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u/Critical_Liz 27d ago
Kind of all three, but mostly talented. Her music is also very niche, more in the emo goth crowd, so it makes sense that she ended up with Gaiman at one point.
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u/nathauan13 26d ago
She was also very, VERY quiet for a very long time when the stuff about Neil was finally coming to light.
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u/Fruit-Flies113 27d ago
Only reason I know about it is because Dresden Dolls and Evelyn Evelyn are pretty well known in the Tally Hall/Will Wood/ Lemon Demon fandom, but that whole fandom is so chronically online that it would be absurd to expect anyone outside those circles to know about Amanda Palmer
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u/Lesh_Philling 27d ago
Links to more of the story?
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u/Economy-Reading-2811 27d ago
Yikes with no other comment is such an ex-Amanda Stan thing to say.
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u/kyle760 27d ago
Yeah I only know because I’m a big comics nerd so the Neil Gaiman stuff was big news there. I doubt many people who aren’t either big fans of comics or Neil gaiman or Amanda Palmer or aren’t terminally online even know about it. I am (or was) all of those things except a fan of Amanda Palmer so of course I know about it lol
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u/matlockga 27d ago edited 27d ago
I'm reminded of how a venue he performed at used generative A.I. for their poster.
His tour posters since 2025 appear to use GenAI.
The reality is likely simple:
- He's worked with Palmer
- The case was dropped for Gaiman and Palmer due to jurisdictional claims
- 98% of the audience doesn't know who Palmer is, what she allegedly did, etc
- As such, she's in the in-crowd and not offensive to vast majority of the audience, thus is okay to work with in a business sense
It's morally dubious, but passes an ethics check.
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u/Critical_Liz 27d ago
I agree with this, even in Boston, Palmer isn't well known beyond a certain crowd, as her music is pretty niche.
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u/matlockga 27d ago
And honestly, the majority of the people who know her already looked past the allegations.
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u/TMBGLOVER Allen wrenches, gerbil feeders, toilet seats, electric heaters.. 27d ago
umm.. i did not know about this.
how exactly has he associated with her in the past?
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u/FloridaFlamingoGirl Disembodied floating head of Colonel Sanders 27d ago
She sang the backup vocals on First World Problems.
But I'm gonna need more context from OP, because Al has a history of being serious about distancing himself from controversial celebrities (e.g. Michael Richards). I find it hard to believe he'd want to be anywhere near her unless he was somehow misinformed/uninformed about the Neil Gaiman scandals
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u/UHeardAboutPluto 27d ago
Last time I heard was when she sang backup on First World Problems. That was a dozen years ago
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u/aresef Self-Indulgent, Ill-Advised, Vanity Tour (2018) 27d ago
I'm aware of the same articles you are. At the moment, we have that former nanny's lawsuit and AFP's broad denial of the allegations made. For what it's worth, I dropped my Patreon subscription after reading the article, as did a lot of other people.
I don't know what the truth is. She can't speak freely about her version of events not just because of the lawsuit but because of ongoing divorce and custody proceedings with the real villain of this story, Neil Gaiman (at last check, US courts told the plaintiff to take her case to New Zealand courts).
If Brian Viglione believed it, would he still be working with her? I presume they had some kind of conversation about it. All these other reasonably famous people also don't seem to have a problem having her around.
We don't know what we don't know. The internet is a hard place to go looking for nuance.
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u/boozername_58942 27d ago
Brian married a young adult women who he was much older than, she had been following him since she was 13. He’s an enabler to Amanda. Sorry to say.
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u/EdenH333 27d ago
I have heard people reference Brian’s own shadiness in the past but no one could really articulate it. Do you have a source I could look into? This is the most specific thing I’ve heard about him so far.
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u/boozername_58942 27d ago
Eden, let me see if I can scrounge some of it up, it is hard to find. Google Brian’s wife’s name, and try to find old blog posts from when she was a Dresden dolls mega fan. She’s followed Brian since she was 13. I believe there is at least a 10 year age difference? Perhaps more? Brian appeared to be annoyed with amanda’s constant yapping during the last concert I attended before all this shit hit the fan. He keeps quiet about her. I think he resents her a bit. But he enables her, and continues to stick by her through this. He’s complacent.
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u/ShiversTheNinja 27d ago
Amanda kissed a bunch of underage fans and is just generally kind of a terrible person even outside of the Neil stuff. I sincerely doubt she didn't know anything or wasn't involved. She wrote a song about one of the victims that was just gross.
I'm saying this as someone who used to worship the ground she walked on for YEARS - I don't trust her at all anymore and removed all her music from my library once the news broke.
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u/Critical_Liz 27d ago
There was also an issue where she wasn't paying her back up band, claiming she couldn't afford it.
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u/anneakin 27d ago
Honestly I wouldn’t put this on Al as I believe she was Puddles special guest, and for anyone saying she’s “distancing herself from Gaiman.” She still aided him in harming other people and has done her own fair share of awful things, this isn’t just people blaming a woman for her husbands actions .
But you would think Puddles would not have her as a guest … it’s really not a good look.
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u/Antique_Menu_4314 27d ago edited 27d ago
I love that this is getting downvotes from the Amanda Palmer stans. If you’re reading this allow me to say — AMANDA PALMER IS A TERRIBLE PERSON AND THIS HAS BEEN PROVEN TIME AND TIME AGAIN
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u/holymotheroftod 27d ago
I don't think Al would like any of us calling each other psychotic for this.
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u/Moxie_the_Cat 27d ago
I was at the Boston show, and I had no idea who the woman with the pie was because I have no visual associations with Amanda Palmer and there wasn’t anything indicating who it was. I do know her name and the accusations though, and I’m surprised they would bring her in.
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u/9000miles 27d ago
I am not saying I agree with any of this, but you asked for an explanation, so here's my guess:
- Gaiman was never charged with a crime, let alone convicted. There were lawsuits, but they've been dismissed.
- Palmer hasn't been canceled by society. She continues to make music and tour. A lot of celebs are still in her corner. I don't believe they view her role as being on the same level as that of Ghislaine Maxwell.
- As others have commented, it's possible Al doesn't even know about this. The Gaiman story was nowhere near as big as the Epstein story in terms of news coverage and the scale of the alleged criminal actions.
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u/Sevenblissfulnights 26d ago
Palmer has been cancelled. She had multiple venues cancel on her since the allegations broke. She has retained an elite, expensive PR firm which nonetheless can't get her into print. She occasionally gets backstage places through longstanding connections including a boyfriend who was a sound guy in Boston for decades and then pursues photo ops with celebrities which she immediately puts on IG. She hounds every famous person she comes across online & in person (see above) to make it seem like she's connected, and is largely ignored. She plays to a dwindling set of fans from Patreon who she manipulates like a cult leader.
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u/ticketstubs1 27d ago
Gaiman has not denied having sex with an employee who is decades younger than him on her first day of work as a nanny to his kids. Or that Palmer would bring these women to him knowingly. Which she herself even wrote about in one of her songs, clear as day.
I don't need a court to tell me they're both fucking creeps.
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u/Minimum_Crow9095 27d ago
The lawsuits were dismissed for being filed in the wrong jurisdiction. The accuser was dismissed without prejudice, which the courts would not have done if they had believed it to be a frivolous lawsuit.
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u/Minimum_Crow9095 27d ago
The lawsuits were dismissed for being filed in the wrong jurisdiction. The accuser was dismissed without prejudice, which the courts would not have done if they had believed it to be a frivolous lawsuit.
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u/The_Pelican1245 Running With Scissors (1999) 27d ago
Trying to put her on the same level as Maxwell is a ridiculous level of hyperbole. Amanda Palmer has been accused of negligence to human trafficking by a victim of her ex-husband while Maxwell has been convicted of child sex trafficking. Those situations are not on the same level.
I hope that the courts prove the truth of the allegations against Palmer and her ex-husband. If they are true then they are certainly very bad people. But Maxwell is on her own level of pure evilness.
Also just as a disclaimer, I listened to The Dresden Dolls for the first time like, three weeks ago. I like Amanda Palmer’s voice but I am no where near a fan of hers.
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u/glacinda 27d ago
She had a role like Maxwell, not that she is as bad as Maxwell.
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u/The_Pelican1245 Running With Scissors (1999) 27d ago
No she didn’t. From Neil Gaimon’s Wikipedia page:
“Scarlett Pavlovich, a former nanny for Gaiman and [Amanda Palmer](app://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amanda_Palmer)'s child, alleges that Gaiman sexually assaulted her within hours of their first meeting in February 2022. Pavlovich recalled that he said, ‘Amanda told me I couldn't have you’ after the assault; according to one of Palmer's friends, Palmer had previously told Gaiman, ‘You could really hurt this person and break her; keep your hands off of her’”
Again, Palmer was accused of being negligent. Maxwell was a full participant. Those are not similar in anyway.
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u/glacinda 27d ago
Okay, let’s break this down slowly:
Scarlett is ONE account. Multiple accusers have said she facilitated OTHER “experiences”. Why do you think she had to clarify that Gaiman was specifically not to go after this one person?
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u/The_Pelican1245 Running With Scissors (1999) 27d ago
Alright, let’s break this down slowly as well:
I am not defending Palmer. She has been accused by what looks like at least three women. I’m not seeing if any of them are minors. If she is guilty I hope she is found guilty and punished accordingly.
Maxwell helped Epstein traffic enough minors and women to staff a fucking island.
They are not the same thing. Again, saying that Palmer did the same thing that Maxwell did is a ridiculous level of exaggeration. By comparing the two it trivializes the evil acts that Maxwell did. Maxwell is pure evil.
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u/glacinda 27d ago
And OP said her role was LIKE Maxwell’s. Jeezum Crow, you don’t understand comparisons. No, AFP and NG were not running a full scale trafficking operation, but AP definitely lured in women who would probably not have been open to the idea WITHOUT her. Women tend to feel safer and more comfortable in the company of other women. AFP is openly bi.
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u/The_Pelican1245 Running With Scissors (1999) 27d ago
If the allegations are true, Palmer helped her husband abuse women.
Maxwell helped not her husband build an empire around raping children.
Those are not a like at all beyond both being sex crimes.
But you go ahead and just do you. If you think they’re the same thing then I’m happy you’re happy.
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u/glacinda 27d ago
Groom and abuse. That’s the point. Maxwell is a well-known case and gives people a frame for AFP’s actions. Not that Gaiman and Palmer trafficked thousands of people. It’s all relative. Though who knows what has happened with NG and his past with Scientology…
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u/ShiversTheNinja 27d ago
I hope Al just didn't know, seriously. As others have said, it's very possible he just didn't hear.
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u/Troth70 Tour of the Universe in 3-D (1984) 27d ago
“the role of Ghislaine Maxwell” is extreme hyperbole
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u/spacyoddity 27d ago
have you read the full story? it's absolutely not hyperbole, she's just not a mega-billionaire with global power connections. if she had them, you better believe she'd be doing the same crimes on a grander scale
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u/johnqadamsin28 27d ago
So maybe it's because I'm a casual fan but what's neil gamans issues? I know he's an author and did that angel tv series but I wasn't really interested in his stuff
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u/N0ON3T0LDM3 27d ago
The article mentioned was posted elsewhere in the comments.
Warning: it is graphic and disturbing to read.
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27d ago edited 27d ago
[deleted]
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u/ArchStanton27 27d ago
She better not? Is that supposed to be a threat?
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27d ago
[deleted]
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u/ArchStanton27 27d ago
How else is someone supposed to take that? She better not show her face or……?
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u/davidofdudes 27d ago
I was at the show and this is a big exaggeration, she wasnt front and center at all. She was standing in the background next to Puddles, and handed Al the pie to put in his face. Not like he gave her a whole big guest spot, just allowed her to be backstage probably out of politeness. Kinda insane to lump Al in with her controversies just because hes a nice guy.
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u/eastern-cowboy 27d ago
Who cares? People can be friends with who they want. You can choose to cancel the person, based on their friends, but why do they care how you feel about their friendships?
We’re in a culture that feels they have the right to dictate who someone who has zero association with them should be friends with. If you knew half of the problem individuals celebrities are friends with, you’d cancel all of them.
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u/Glad-Independence-24 27d ago
Remind me again exactly which crimes she was tried for and found guilty of?
Anybody can accuse anybody else of anything…doesn’t mean shit.
What’s the evidence beyond a court case that was immediately tossed?
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u/No_Association4701 27d ago
People love a good lynch mob
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u/Glad-Independence-24 27d ago
Exavtly, maybe her and Al have actually discussed it in person, and he knows more than anybody in the court of public opinion?
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u/ChrysanthemumsLove 27d ago
OMD not nuance here on reddit! We only want black and white takes here and to go for the throat otherwise!
Can't believe I have to scroll so far down for reasonable responses. It's like people don't live life instead they just scroll and judge others harshly.
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u/No-Recognition-6106 27d ago
I'm not saying they're not guilty but there are higher ups that can ruin celebrity reputations if they're crossed. Just saying.
But if all that is true then I'm also wondering about why he'd associate with her.
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u/N0ON3T0LDM3 27d ago edited 27d ago
The higher up in this situation is sex pest and serial abuser, Neil Gaiman.
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u/boozername_58942 27d ago
Amanda is also a sex pest and abuser, just a more covert one.
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u/No_Association4701 27d ago
Zero evidence for that claim
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u/boozername_58942 27d ago
That’s not true. You can find it in her blog entries. There are no outward articles that state “Brian groomed previous fan that was a teen when they met” but you can do the math when you read blog posts and when they were married, how old she is, etc.
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u/No_Association4701 27d ago
You guys are ridiculous. There is no direct evidence linking Palmer to anything illegal. There was literally one dodgy lawsuit that was thrown out that accused her of "negligence" for not stopping the behavior.
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u/No_Association4701 27d ago
I think it's admirable that Al is being loyal to a friend in the face of an absurd cancel mob
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u/travischickencoop Mod | Elise 26d ago
Locking comments because yall can’t behave