David Walliams Accused of Sexual Misconduct and Grooming by Over 30 People

Over 30 people have accused David Walliams, the comedian who co-created and starred in Little Britain, of sexual misconduct in a joint investigation by The Guardian and ITV News. The report, published after Walliams failed to block it in court, includes allegations of grooming from two women who say he first contacted them when they were 15.

Walliams' lawyers denied the allegations and any criminal wrongdoing. In a letter 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."

What does the report allege?

The accounts mostly come from women who say they were over 18 during their encounters with Walliams. But some, according to the report, say the comedian first contacted them when they were teenagers. The women's central claim is that Walliams used his celebrity and star power to prey on them.

One woman, identified as Jade, said Walliams first contacted her on MySpace in 2007, when she was 15 and he was about to turn 36. After phone calls and emails, they met in person. Jade alleges that during that first meeting Walliams asked if she'd had sex; she said she hadn't, but disclosed she had been sexually abused as a child. She alleges he then kissed her, invited her to his house, lifted her shirt, pulled down her bra, sucked her breast, and tried to put her hand down his pants.

"I wasn't ready for sex. I didn't want to do that with him or with anyone," Jade told The Guardian. "I mean, I was only a 15-year-old." She said Walliams agreed to stop, then told her they "should wait" until she was 16 and that she should "keep in contact." Jade now describes what happened as sexual assault and grooming. Walliams' lawyers denied that he groomed Jade or anyone else, denied any sexual contact with her, and called allegations of serious criminal conduct false.

Another woman, identified as Alex, said Walliams contacted her in January 2004, when she was 15 and he was 32. She was a fan and aspiring comedy writer who had given him scripts at a fan event. The two stayed in touch for years by phone and email; Alex said Walliams was sometimes kind and encouraging, sometimes curt and cold.

In 2005, when Alex was 17-and-a-half, the exchanges turned sexual. She alleges Walliams requested photos, sometimes telling her "how to pose," with the images escalating from her face to underwear shots to nudes. Alex said she first had sex with Walliams in spring 2006, when she was 17. She described the three encounters as consensual but called Walliams "pushy," and said she came away feeling "like a prostitute, essentially." His lawyers said Walliams understood Alex to be 18, did not remember requesting photos in fall 2005, and again denied any grooming.

"He used that power and abused that power the minute he felt he just about could and it was just about safe to," Alex said.

How did Walliams try to stop publication?

Walliams filed for a permanent injunction in UK court, remaining anonymous during proceedings as a "well-known individual." His lawyers argued he had attempted suicide over the summer after reporters first contacted him, and might harm himself again if the story ran. The judge found the suicide risk "genuine, grave, and closely connected to the court's decision and any subsequent publication" — but "not sufficient" to grant the injunction. On Monday, Walliams' lawyers said they would not appeal.

In his letter, Walliams said: "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."

What happens to Walliams' career now?

The report lands on top of a string of setbacks. Walliams apologized in 2023 after The Guardian published leaked derogatory comments he made about Britain's Got Talent contestants; he then sued the show's production company over privacy breaches, a suit that was settled before he left the program, where he had judged from 2012 to 2022. His publisher HarperCollins dropped him last year over reports of inappropriate behavior toward young women on staff, and in September said it would stop publishing him altogether, phasing out his books, ebooks and audiobooks — a catalog that has sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. Earlier this month, a British theme park said it would shut down an attraction based on his books.

What does this change for Walliams? The industry exits have already happened; the question the investigation now puts in play is whether the OBE he received from Queen Elizabeth II in 2017, and the broadcasting career behind it, can survive the scrutiny that follows publication.