David Walliams accused of grooming and preying on teen girls

CW: sexual assault, suicide

British comedian, actor and children’s book author David Walliams has been accused of grooming teenage girls.

ITV News and The Guardian published the results of a three-year investigation overnight, containing allegations from multiple women that Walliams preyed on them for sexual purposes as teenagers.

The 55-year-old has denied the allegations, which date back to the 2000s and 2010s.

It comes after Walliams secured a court order to stop the media outlets naming him in their investigation, which has since been lifted.

Walliams

Walliams created and starred in the sketch comedy shows Little Britain (2003-06) and Come Fly with Me (2010-11) with Matt Lucas.

From 2012 to 2022, Walliams was a judge on Britain’s Got Talent.

He also wrote dozens of children’s books, including ‘The Boy in the Dress’, ‘Mr Stink’ and ‘Gangsta Granny’.

Last year, HarperCollins said they would no longer publish Walliams’ works, following an investigation into his alleged inappropriate behaviour towards their junior female staff.

Allegations

Over the last three years, multiple women have alleged to ITV and The Guardian that Walliams groomed them when they were teenagers.

One said she met Walliams at a fan event when she was 15, and that they stayed in contact.

She said that when she was 17, she and Walliams had consensual sex.

Walliams told ITV he believed she was 18 at the time.

Another woman said she commented on Walliams’ MySpace account when she was 15.

He then sent her a private message and eventually organised to meet with her.

The woman said Walliams kissed her, and after she agreed to go to his house, she told ITV he “lifted my top and sucked on my breast and tried to put my hand down his trousers”.

She alleged that Walliams knew she was 15, and that he told her they would wait to have sex until she was 16, the UK’s age of consent.

Another woman, who worked for HarperCollins, said “we would never send any of the girls on their own” to his home.

She also recalled “gross” messages he sent to a young female staff member, and another who entered a relationship with Walliams.

That staff member later called the relationship an “abuse of power”.

Walliams’ response

Walliams has denied all allegations against him, saying: “I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law”.

He added: “Whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely and it is something that I never did.”

Walliams added he is “devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.”

Injunction

Walliams’ lawyers previously requested an injunction in the UK High Court.

If granted, this would have blocked the publications from reporting Walliams’ identity in connection to these allegations.

His lawyers said the 55-year-old was “highly likely” to die by suicide if the allegations were published, noting that he had already attempted to die by suicide twice this year.

The Guardian reports Walliams is currently under an involuntary psychiatric hold.

The court did not grant the injunction permanently, but allowed it to stay in place while Walliams’ lawyers considered if they would appeal.

Justice Matthew Nicklin said a longer injunction would have been “an exceptionally serious restriction upon freedom of expression,” and that the story held public interest.

The temporary restriction lifted after the appeal deadline passed on Monday (UK time), with Walliams and his lawyers choosing not to proceed.

Other responses

British comedian Lucy Beaumont told Sky News UK on Tuesday that she was “one of the whistleblowers,” having reached out to The Guardian after becoming concerned one of Walliams’ alleged victims would “take her own life”.

In a statement to ITV, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “I don’t think we’ve seen the full extent of the reporting,” calling the allegations “troubling”.

BBC has removed Walliams’ work from its iPlayer service, including Little Britain.

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