David Walliams sexual misconduct allegations, Digi Mart USA News (United Kingdom): Comedian and former Britain’s Got Talent judge is alleged to have groomed fans he met when they were as young as 15 and harassed women in the workplace over a number of years. He denies the allegations.
An investigation by the Guardian and ITV News has found that multiple women allege Walliams abused his power and position as a celebrity to prey on them for sexual purposes when they were teenagers or young women. Some of the women have requested pseudonyms to protect their anonymity, and most say they were over 18 when they had interactions with him.
One woman, identified as Alex, says she was 15 in January 2004 when Walliams, then 32 and a rising star with the sketch show Little Britain, phoned her after she sent him scripts she had written. She says the calls and emails that followed encouraged her writing career, and that by the time she was 17 they were having sex.
She describes the relationship as traumatising and says she felt unable to say no or have control once she was with him.
Another woman, identified as Jade, alleges that she met Walliams when she was 15, after he messaged her on MySpace in 2007. She says that weeks after first contact he invited her to his house and initiated sexual contact.
She also says that at a coffee meeting in August 2007, when she was 15, he asked whether she had ever had sex before.
The allegations also extend to Walliams’ conduct in the workplace, with several sources describing inappropriate behaviour towards women at Britain’s Got Talent and at his publisher HarperCollins. In September, HarperCollins announced it would no longer publish Walliams’ back catalogue, having dropped him as a bestselling author the previous year.
The Guardian and ITV News report that the publisher severed ties after concerns were raised about his behaviour over several years.
Walliams’ lawyers took a case to the High Court earlier this year to try to stop the allegations being published. The case was dismissed.
In a letter to journalists, Walliams wrote that he at times behaved thoughtlessly towards people he had casual sexual relationships with and regrets not always taking their feelings into account. He wrote: “I am not a sexual predator.
I have not broken the law.”
Walliams’ lawyers say the suggestion that he groomed Alex is false and has caused him significant distress. They say he believed she was 18 when she got back in touch, and that he denies being pushy or proposing sex.
They also say he denies grooming Lilly Creightmore or behaving inappropriately towards her, and that he did not target her because she was vulnerable or young.
