David Walliams Dropped by Agent and BBC Pulls Shows After Misconduct Claims

British comedian and children's author David Walliams, 55, is facing allegations of sexual misconduct from several women, according to a joint investigation by ITV News and the Guardian published Tuesday. Walliams denies the central claims, saying he is not a predator and has not broken the law.

Within hours, his longtime literary agent, Independent Talent Group, said it was dropping him, the BBC began removing programmes and Sky pulled a planned adaptation of one of his books, BBC News and Global News reported.

What the investigation alleges

BBC News described the work as a three-year investigation. Global News reported that it involved speaking to more than 100 people. Several women who do not know one another told the outlets that Walliams made unwanted sexual advances toward them, and some accuse him of grooming them while they were teenagers.

The reports say one woman, identified as Jade, alleges he contacted her through a social media page that listed her age as 15 and later sexually assaulted her at his home. Another, identified as Alex, says she met him at a fan event when she was 15, that he promised to help her as an aspiring writer and that they had sex when she was 17. She told the investigation she believes she was groomed.

A third woman, Lilly Creightmore, who gave up her right to anonymity, told BBC Newsnight that Walliams first contacted her when she was 18. She said she felt pressured and manipulated after staying at his house. Other women allege inappropriate behavior at ITV's Britain's Got Talent, and the investigation also claims he had a relationship with at least one junior employee at his publisher, HarperCollins.

What Walliams says

In a letter to journalists published by the Guardian, Walliams wrote that he is “not a sexual predator.” He said he regrets that he sometimes behaved thoughtlessly and did not always consider people's feelings, and he said he is devastated that some women he met 10 to 20 years ago now feel hurt or angry.

His lawyers told the outlets he did not target teenagers or use his fame to manipulate anyone into sex. They denied sexual contact with Jade and denied that he groomed Creightmore. On Alex, they said he believed she was 18 when they had sex, while the investigation said she was actually 17. The Guardian noted that under UK law it is illegal for someone older than 18 to intentionally communicate with a child younger than 16 for a sexual purpose.

The court fight that came first

Before publication, Walliams asked the High Court for an injunction to stop the outlets from identifying him. Justice Matthew Nicklin rejected the request last week, saying it would be an exceptionally serious interference with the media companies' rights, though he protected Walliams's identity until late Monday.

The judge also said Walliams has a serious and longstanding psychiatric vulnerability that must be taken seriously, and that publication would substantially raise his risk of suicide, but that the evidence did not show it was inevitable. A summary of the judgment said some of the alleged conduct could amount to criminal offenses if proven. The case drew attention in Britain because it raised questions about public figures' privacy and what the media can report in the public interest.

What it means for Walliams's work and his audience

The consequences are already visible to readers and viewers. The BBC called the allegations serious, removed Little Britain from iPlayer and said it would review all material featuring or written by Walliams on its platforms. Sky called the claims extremely serious, dropped its planned adaptation of his fantasy feature Fing! and said it had removed content featuring him from its platforms.

HarperCollins dropped Walliams last year after accusations that he harassed young female colleagues, which he denied. He also stepped down as a Britain's Got Talent judge in 2022 after apologizing for disrespectful comments about contestants.

What happens next

The Metropolitan Police said it has contacted the Guardian and ITV News so that any potential victims know how to report criminal allegations to police. The allegations have not been tested in court, and Walliams has not been charged with any offense.

Read next
Russell Brand Convicted of Rape and Sexual Assault; BBC Faces Scrutiny
What the BBC's Plan to Close BBC Three and BBC Scotland Channels Means for Viewers
Unnamed Celebrity Asks London Court to Block Media Reports on Abuse Claims

Around Prague, based on reporting by Al Jazeera, Global News, BBC News

Cover photo: Sriya Sarkar / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0, cropped