David Walliams publishing industry concerns, Digi Mart USA News: Author Chloe Combi has said she heard rumours that there were “real concerns” about David Walliams’s behaviour within the publishing industry more than a decade ago, according to BBC News.
Combi told BBC News she had heard there were allegations about his “behaviour around young female staff” and said she was told in 2015 to warn schools that he was “not an appropriate booking”.
An investigation by the Guardian and ITV News alleged that Walliams has been accused by several women of sexual misconduct, inappropriate behaviour and abusing his position, which he denies. HarperCollins, which published Walliams’s best-selling children’s books, dropped Walliams last year after an investigation into his behaviour.
In response to the Guardian and ITV report, a spokesperson for HarperCollins said the company had decided not to publish any new titles by Walliams and that it took “employee wellbeing extremely seriously”. HarperCollins in September announced it would no longer be publishing his back catalogue.
Walliams told ITV News and the Guardian that he was “not a sexual predator” and had not “broken the law”. In his statement he said: “Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with.” He added that he “never” abused power, and said he was “devastated” that some women he met 10 to 20 years ago had expressed hurt or anger towards him.
Combi said she never met Walliams herself and that her information had come from “a number of people I was speaking to”. Asked whether concerns were an open secret, she replied: “Yes definitely,” saying she had heard it from people who worked in publishing, fellow writers, and people in celebrity and TV circles.
Media minister Ian Murray said there is a “cultural problem” in the industry that needs to be “stamped out”, telling the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee he was “deeply saddened and also angry” at the prevalence of abuse by men in the media industry. Minister for Women and Equalities Bridget Phillipson paid tribute to the “bravery” of victims and said the government would “go further” on restricting the use of non-disclosure agreements.
Comedian and podcaster Deborah Frances-White told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One that young women are “definitely” still being exploited in the comedy industry. Comedian Lucy Beaumont told Sky News she was one of the people who spoke to the Guardian about allegations raised with her about Walliams.
Labour MP Jess Phillips said the behaviour alleged “needs to be stopped”.
