Allegations against the comedian, actor and TV personality David Walliams have been dominating the news cycle since they first came to light this week.
The former Britain’s Got Talent judge has been accused by multiple women of “grooming”, with one in particular alleging that he “sexually assaulted” her when she was 15.
Walliams – who had previously unsuccessfully sought an injunction to stop these allegations from being made public – has denied all of the accusations made against him.
In the days since the allegations have been made public, the fall-out has been felt across the entertainment world, with numerous organisations and bodies distancing themselves from the Little Britain performer.
This is the story so far…
A court turns down an undisclosed celebrity’s request for an injunction, which would have prevented allegations of sexual misconduct against him from being published
Back in October, reports first emerged claiming that an anonymous “well-known individual” – referred to in court simply as PPT – had been seeking a legal injunction to prevent The Guardian and the news production company ITN from publishing allegations about him that came out of a years-long investigation.
These accusations included “inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities with girls and young women”.
PPT’s legal team explained they were seeking the injunction as the publication of these claims could place him at a high risk of suicide, stating that he was still “seriously ill” after two previous attempts on his life in recent months.
Lawyers for PPT – who we now know to be Walliams – also denied that he ever used “his power and position as a celebrity to contact and forge relationships with young women and teenagers to try to have sex with them”.
Ultimately, on Tuesday 3 November, this request for an injunction was denied, and the following Monday, it was revealed that PPT had missed the opportunity to appeal, meaning he was now able to be named in the press.
The Guardian and ITN publish their joint investigation, naming David Walliams as the celebrity at the centre of the allegations
A day after the deadline for appeal was missed, The Guardian and ITN published their respective reports into allegations against Walliams.
These included accounts from multiple women, including two who alleged he had “groomed” them as teenagers, with one also accusing him of “sexual assault” when she was 15 years old and he was in his mid-30s.
Elsewhere in the report, he was accused of “inappropriate conduct” and “sexual harassment” behind the scenes of Britain’s Got Talent, where he served as a judge for 10 years, as well as at his former publisher, HarperCollins.
David Walliams immediately denied the allegations against him in a statement
On the day the allegations were made public, a statement from David Walliams read: “Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with. I realise I did not always take people’s feelings properly into account. That is something I regret.
“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.”
David Walliams’ literary agent dropped him as a client once the allegations were made public
Off the back of these allegations, David Walliams’ literary agent announced it would no longer represent him, after almost 20 years working together.
Independent Talent Group (ITG) explained at the time: “ITG is deeply disturbed by the allegations concerning David Walliams. Our thoughts are with anyone who has been affected. We are no longer representing him in any capacity.”
According to Deadline, Walliams was still listed on ITG’s website as one of its clients as recently as Monday 9 November, the day before the allegations against him were published.
The BBC pulls David Walliams’ shows from its iPlayer service
In light of the allegations, shows starring and written by David Walliams – perhaps most notably his sketch comedy Little Britain – were pulled from the BBC’s iPlayer.
“These are serious allegations,” a rep for the BBC explained. “As such, the BBC is looking carefully at all material featuring and written by David Walliams on our platforms.
“We are in the process of removing some programmes, including Little Britain, whilst this review is underway.”
A David Walliams cameo is also cut from an upcoming film adaptation of one of his children’s books, which now no longer has a UK distributor
A movie adaptation of Walliams’ book Fing! was originally slated for release in January 2027. This is now looking unlikely, at least on this side of the Atlantic, as Sky has stepped away from the project, having initially been brought on to distribute it.
“We have notified the producers of the film of our intention to exit our position as the UK & Ireland licensee [of Fing!],” a spokesperson for Sky told Variety this week in light of the “extremely serious” allegations.
Meanwhile, a filmed cameo from Walliams has also been cut from the film, which he co-wrote, and which features his comedy partner Matt Lucas as the voice of the title character.
“We take the allegations reported regarding David Walliams seriously,” Fing!’s producers said in their own statement.
“Our thoughts are with anyone who has been affected. We have removed his cameo appearance from Fing! and he will have no involvement in the film’s release or promotion.”
Waterstones will no longer be selling any remaining copies of David Walliams’ books
Per The Bookseller, Walliams’ popular children’s books are no longer on sale at The Works or TGJones (previously known as WHSmith), while Waterstones plans to return its remaining stock to his former publisher, HarperCollins UK.
His author page on Waterstones’ website now leads to an error message.
Several organisations had already distanced themselves from David Walliams before the allegations were published
Back in December of last year, reports emerged claiming that the publisher HarperCollins UK – with whom Walliams had previously collaborated on more than 20 children’s books – had “decided not to publish any new titles” by Walliams, in light of its own investigation into his conduct.
At the time, The Telegraph reported that allegations had been made that he had behaved inappropriately towards young women at the company.
“HarperCollins takes employee well-being extremely seriously and has processes in place for reporting and investigating concerns,” a rep for the company said at the time, while declining to comment any more specifically on “internal matters”.
Walliams’ agent responded: “David has never been informed of any allegations raised against him by HarperCollins.
“He was not party to any investigation or given any opportunity to answer questions. David strongly denies that he has behaved inappropriately and is taking legal advice.”
Following this, in September 2026, HarperCollins confirmed that it had dropped Walliams’ backlist, meaning it would be phasing out his past titles.
Meanwhile, the British theme park Alton Towers announced last week, on the same day Walliams’ injunction request was denied, that an area dedicated to attractions inspired by his books had been closed permanently.
