David Walliams Accused of Preying on Young Women, Guardian Investigation Finds

By Marcus Bennett

HarperCollins dropped David Walliams after an internal inquiry into his conduct toward female staff, a Guardian and ITV News investigation has revealed — one thread in a pattern of allegations spanning two decades.

The investigation, which contacted more than 100 people, found multiple women who allege Walliams abused his fame to pursue teenagers and young women for sex. Several allege workplace misconduct at Britain's Got Talent and at his publisher. Walliams denies any wrongdoing.

In September, HarperCollins announced it would no longer publish his back catalogue, having dropped the bestselling author in December last year. The Guardian and ITV News can now report the publisher acted after concerns raised over several years, including an allegation of an inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior employee and the pursuit of another.

The inquiry, initiated in late 2023 by Cally Poplak, the new head of the children's division, heard from at least five female staff members. It concluded in 2024 with no consequences for Walliams. One woman who spoke to it received a reported five-figure payout and signed a separation agreement with a strict non-disclosure clause.

What does Walliams say?

In a letter to journalists working on the investigation, Walliams wrote: "Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with."

He continued: "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."

Earlier this year his lawyers took a case to the high court to try to stop publication of the allegations. The case was dismissed.

The allegations: from 15 to 44

One woman, given the pseudonym Alex, says Walliams telephoned her in January 2004, when she was 15 and he was 32, after she handed him scripts at a Little Britain fan event. "Hi, it's David Walliams. You know, off of the telly!" she recalls him saying.

Email exchanges from October 2005, quoted in the investigation, show the exchange turning sexual. Walliams, then 34, wrote: "You in the bath is a nice thought," after she told him she was nearly 17 and a half. Alex says he requested photographs, progressing from her face to images in her underwear; one photo from November 2005 shows the 17-year-old in a bikini.

By spring 2006, Alex says, they were having sex at his Belsize Park flat. "I felt like a prostitute, essentially," she says of the encounters. Her verdict: "I think I was groomed, 100%."

His lawyers say he understood her to be 18 when she resumed contact, that he does not believe he requested sexual pictures, and that the grooming suggestion is false.

A second woman, Jade, alleges Walliams messaged her on MySpace in summer 2007, when she was 15. She says that weeks after first contact, he met her at a Soho cafe, asked whether she had ever had sex, then kissed her forcibly and took her to his townhouse, where she says he initiated sexual contact before she pulled away.

She recalls him saying they should wait until she was 16. "That comment will always stick out in my mind," she says. His lawyers deny any sexual contact with Jade and say allegations of serious criminal conduct are false.

Lilly Creightmore says that after a card arrived at her mother's house in 2003 asking her for a date, Walliams pestered her for sex for years despite her stating she wanted friendship only. "He was pursuing me, at a vulnerable age and place in my life, for sexual gratification," she says. His lawyers deny grooming or coercion.

Another woman, Sarah, says Walliams invited her and a friend, both 18, to stay at his house in 2016, when he was 44. She alleges he tried to kiss her, stroked her leg, and later guided the heavily drunk 18-year-old toward his bedroom before her friend intervened. His lawyers say he refutes the suggestion he got her drunk and denies any sexual contact.

Fame as currency

The investigation also documents:

• Concerns among BGT production staff that Walliams messaged young female runners, including a 19-year-old and a 21-year-old.
• A 2017 allegation from a runner, Amy, that he stared at her chest and called her "the one with the arse".
• A 2015 dressing-room invitation to 17-year-old fan Abby Tomlinson and other teenage girls.
• A 2016 legal letter from Schillings lawyer Jenny Afia threatening a 19-year-old woman within 24 hours should she disclose her experience.
• Seven further women, six of them models aged 19 to 22, who say Walliams contacted them on social media without any sexual encounter ensuing.

Walliams' lawyers deny workplace harassment and say he has never been warned over messaging runners. Fremantle and Syco said they had no knowledge of the allegations and had never received complaints. ITV said Fremantle confirmed no complaint had ever been made.

What changes now?

The high court's dismissal of Walliams' attempt to block publication allowed these accounts to surface after years of silence — a silence the Schillings letter may have deepened. "I think all this should have come out a long time ago," Sarah says.

The ITV News documentary David Walliams: Power and Silence is available on YouTube and ITVX.