British comedian and author David Walliams, best known for co-creating and starring in the sketch show Little Britain, has been accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women in a new investigation by The Guardian and ITV News.
The report featured accounts from more than 30 people who accused Walliams of using his celebrity and star power to prey on women. While many women said they were over 18 when they had their alleged encounters with Walliams, some accused him of first contacting them when they were teenagers.
Walliams has been a prominent star in the United Kingdom for two decades and was appointed an officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017. He rose to fame with Little Britain, which ran for three seasons on the BBC between 2003 and 2006. From 2012 to 2022, he was a popular judge on Britain’s Got Talent. Walliams was also a successful author of novels and picture books for young adults and children, with his books selling tens of millions of copies worldwide.
Lawyers for Walliams denied the allegations against him and any criminal wrongdoing. In a letter sent to The Guardian and ITV, Walliams said he sometimes “behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships” and “did not always take people’s feelings into proper account. That is something I regret.” He continued: “And 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. I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.”
Walliams sought to stop the story’s release before publication by filing for a permanent injunction in U.K. court. He remained anonymous during the proceedings, referred to only as a “well-known individual.” In arguing their case, Walliams’ lawyers said the comedian attempted suicide over the summer after reporters first contacted him about the allegations. They suggested Walliams might attempt to harm himself again if the story were published.
A judge found that the risk of Walliams attempting suicide again was “genuine, grave, and closely connected to the court’s decision and any subsequent publication,” but ultimately found it was “not sufficient” to grant the injunction. On Monday, Walliams’ lawyers said they would not appeal the ruling, allowing the story to be published.
One woman, identified as Jade, said Walliams first contacted her on MySpace in 2007 when she was 15 and Walliams was about to turn 36. They soon began speaking by phone and communicating by email. Jade said she had been struggling with her mental health at the time, and having a celebrity like Walliams suddenly speak to her made her feel special.
The first time they met in person, Walliams allegedly asked Jade if she had had sex; she said she had not, though she said she had been sexually abused as a child. Later, Walliams allegedly kissed Jade and invited her back to his house, where he initiated sexual contact, according to Jade. According to Jade, Walliams lifted up her shirt, pulled down her bra, sucked her breast, and tried to put his hand down his pants. Jade stopped the encounter, telling The Guardian: “I wasn’t ready for sex. I didn’t want to do that with him or with anyone. I was very uncomfortable with my own body as well. And I didn’t — I didn’t want to be touched in that way at all. I mean, I was only a 15-year-old.” Walliams allegedly agreed to stop. According to Jade, Walliams then told her that they “should wait” until she was 16 and that she should “keep in contact.” Jade said, “That comment will always stick out in my mind. That’s a very strange thing to say.”
Jade said she and Walliams emailed a few more times, but she began to sense that Walliams was growing disinterested. A few times, she said, she tried to confront Walliams about what had happened but did not get the chance. She now described the encounter as sexual assault and grooming. “It’s completely wrong in every way,” she said.
Walliams’ lawyers denied that he groomed Jade or anyone else. They also denied that Walliams had any sexual contact with Jade and said allegations of serious criminal conduct were false.
Another woman, identified as Alex, claimed Walliams contacted her first in January 2004 when she was 15 and he was 32. Alex, a fan and aspiring comedy writer, met Walliams at a fan event and gave him some of her scripts along with her contact information. Walliams allegedly called her a few days later, and the two remained in touch by phone and email over the next couple of years. According to Alex, Walliams could be kind, encouraging, and supportive of her comedy ambitions, but also curt and cold.
“He was the one spending hours on the phone to me, like telling me and promising me that I could do all this stuff,” Alex said. “And then he shut it down. Which was confusing for me because he had been so approachable and chatty before, and I just didn’t want to let a connection go.”
In 2005, when Alex was 17 and a half and Walliams was 34, their exchanges turned sexual. Walliams allegedly began requesting photos from Alex and sometimes told her “how to pose.” The pictures evolved from shots of Alex’s face to photos of her in her underwear to some in which she was naked, Alex claimed. She said they first had sex in spring 2006, when she was still 17.
Walliams’ lawyers said the comedian understood Alex to be 18 at the time and that he did not remember, or believe, that he asked Alex to send him pictures in fall 2005. They did not deny that Walliams and Alex met a few months later.
Alex said she had sex with Walliams three times. While she said all three encounters were consensual, she described Walliams as “pushy” and said she came away feeling “like a prostitute, essentially.” She also said she believed she was groomed. “We met when I was 15 and he was promising to help me and was a figure of authority and someone that I looked to for guidance and help. He used that power and abused that power the minute he felt he just about could and it was just about safe to,” she said.
“I never said no, but I felt unable to say anything or have any control in that situation once I was with him,” she continued, adding: “OK, it’s legal to have sex when you’re 17, 18 — 16, even, but the context of who you’re having sex with — if that person is double your age, if that person has known you from a young age and promised you things and is in a much bigger position of power than you, both in age, in work, in finance, in stature and size, like, everything, I really don’t think that’s OK.”
Walliams’ lawyers again denied the grooming accusations and that he was “pushy” when it came to their sexual encounters.
The Guardian and ITV report comes after a string of controversies involving Walliams over the past few years. In 2023, The Guardian published derogatory comments Walliams made about Britain’s Got Talent contestants from a leaked transcript. While Walliams apologized, he also sued the BGT production company for breaching privacy rules. The suit was settled and Walliams left the show.
Last year, Walliams’ publisher HarperCollins dropped the author after reports that he behaved inappropriately towards young women on staffers. Walliams denied the claims. In September, HarperCollins said it would stop publishing Walliams altogether and phase out stock of his books, ebooks, and audiobooks.
Earlier this month, a British theme park also said it was shutting down an attraction based on Walliams’ books following a “regular review of rides and attractions across the resort.”