David Walliams has denied allegations of sexual misconduct made against him in a joint investigation by the Guardian and ITV News, saying he is not a sexual predator, as the BBC removes his shows from its streaming service and the comedian is detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act. The developments mark a dramatic new chapter in a story that has already ended the 55-year-old's television and publishing career.
The three-year investigation by the Guardian and ITV News was published on Tuesday, after a High Court bid by Walliams to stop the reporting failed. The outlets reported that multiple women accused Walliams, the bestselling children's author and former Britain's Got Talent judge, of using his celebrity status to prey on young women, including two women who said they first met him when they were 15. The investigation drew on more than 30 sources with first-hand accounts, and said the outlets had reviewed emails, social media messages, contemporaneous notes and newspaper articles, and spoken to more than two dozen people who had experienced or witnessed his alleged harassment of young women in the workplace.
Walliams has denied all the allegations against him. In a statement to the BBC on Tuesday, he said: "I am not a sexual predator." He added: "Looking back, I realize that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with." The statement was his first public response since the investigation was published, and it came as broadcasters, publishers and streaming services moved swiftly to distance themselves from him.
The BBC said on Tuesday that it was removing Walliams-related content, including the entire series of Little Britain, the sketch show he created with Matt Lucas, from its iPlayer streaming service while it carries out a review of "all material featuring and written by David Walliams on our platforms". An episode of Doctor Who in which Walliams appeared as a guest star, "The God Complex" from 2011, has also been removed. Sky, meanwhile, has dropped the film "Fing!", and the comedian's publisher HarperCollins terminated its relationship with him last year following allegations that he had harassed female staff members.
Walliams is currently detained under Britain's Mental Health Act and remains in a psychiatric hospital, according to reports. Before the investigation was published, his lawyers had told the High Court that he had attempted suicide twice, and argued that publication could put his life at risk. Mr Justice Nicklin refused the application for an injunction on 3 November, ruling that the issue before the court was whether to stop publication, not whether the allegations were true. Walliams's lawyers confirmed on Monday that he would not appeal.
The investigation's publication followed an unsuccessful attempt by Walliams to seek an injunction to block it on mental health grounds. The Guardian reported that he was the unnamed celebrity who had tried to stop the story from being released by filing the injunction in the London High Court, and that the court had made no finding on whether the allegations were true. The judge's ruling cleared the way for the Guardian and ITV News to publish their findings, which had been three years in the making.
Walliams, who rose to fame writing and starring in Little Britain with Matt Lucas, went on to become one of Britain's most successful children's authors, selling millions of books, and a judge on Britain's Got Talent from 2012 to 2022. He left the talent show after reports in 2022 that he had made derogatory and sexually explicit remarks about contestants to his fellow judges, which were leaked to the Guardian. He later sued the show's production company Fremantle for breaching data laws.
The fallout from the investigation has been swift and comprehensive. Beyond the BBC and Sky, the case has prompted a wider reckoning in the British entertainment industry about how allegations against powerful figures were handled, and about the duty of care owed to young fans and junior staff. The Guardian's report said it had become a warning among female employees at HarperCollins not to go to Walliams's house alone, and sources described inappropriate behaviour towards women on the set of Britain's Got Talent.
For the women who spoke to the investigation, the publication of the findings is the culmination of a long and painful process. Several of them asked to go by pseudonyms to protect their anonymity, and the outlets said they had taken care to corroborate their accounts against documents and the testimony of others. The women, now in their 30s, said the encounters had caused them long-term mental harm.
What happens next is uncertain. Walliams remains in hospital, and no criminal charges have been announced. The BBC's review of his material is ongoing, and the industry will be watching to see whether other broadcasters and publishers follow suit. For now, the man who was once one of Britain's most bankable entertainers has seen his career collapse in a matter of days, and the question of what he did — and what those around him knew — will be debated for a long time to come.
