Image source, Getty ImagesByColin Paterson, Entertainment correspondent and Ian Youngs, Culture reporter- Published6 minutes ago
David Walliams has been accused of grooming young fans and harassing women in the workplace, after failing to stop the Guardian and ITN publishing claims against him.
A three-year investigation, external by the two news organisations alleged the Little Britain star and former Britain's Got Talent judge preyed on teenage girls as young as 15 and young women, external for sexual purposes.
He had sought a High Court injunction to prevent publication, with his lawyers arguing if allegations were made public Walliams would likely kill himself. The court refused the request.
Walliams has denied all of the allegations but in a letter to journalists working on the investigation acknowledged "at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with".
He added: "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."
The 55-year-old became a household name in the early 2000s through Little Britain, his comedy sketch show with Matt Lucas broadcast on the BBC.
Walliams published his first children's book, The Boy in the Dress, in 2008, and his stories soon became best-sellers and led to comparisons with Roald Dahl.
His 23 children's books have sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, but he was dropped by publisher HarperCollins in 2025 after allegations of inappropriate behaviour, which he denied.
In 2012, Walliams became a judge on Britain's Got Talent, and was voted best TV judge at the National TV Awards (NTAs) four times. He was replaced as a judge in 2022.
Before entering showbusiness, Walliams was born David Williams but changed his surname's spelling to avoid having the same name as another member of entertainment union Equity.
He was married to Dutch model Lara Stone from 2010 to 2015 and they have a son.
That hasn't stopped speculation about Walliams' sexuality. He has described himself as "bi-curious" and called his 2012 autobiography Camp David – but said he isn't attracted to men in the way he is to women.
Image caption, Matt Lucas and David Walliams as Florence and Emily in Little Britain
Walliams and Lucas won a string of awards for Little Britain including three Baftas and two International Emmys, and the programme was watched by 10 million people in the UK.
But in the two decades since it ended, views about the show and what is and is not acceptable to joke about have radically altered. The programme has been criticised for its use of blackface and for stereotyping and mocking characters from minority and marginalised groups.
In the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, Little Britain was removed from streaming services including BBC iPlayer, Netflix and BritBox.
Another of the duo's shows, 2010 airport comedy Come Fly With Me, was also removed from BritBox a decade after its original broadcast, due to the show's use of racial stereotypes and using make-up to portray people from other ethnic groups.
Little Britain was restored to iPlayer in 2022 with several scenes cut out. Walliams and Lucas said they had re-edited the show to "better reflect the changes in the cultural landscape since the show was made".
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Walliams won the National Television Award for best TV judge four times for Britain's Got Talent
Not all the criticisms of Walliams have involved new standards being applied to older work.
Walliams had to apologise after two charity performances, during which he yanked down not only the trousers but also the underwear of actor Jeremy Edwards and music producer Mark Ronson.
In 2020, he was booed while hosting the NTAs after making a joke about Caroline Flack being out of work, at a time when she had stepped down from hosting Love Island and was waiting to appear in court, having been charged for actual bodily harm following a row with her boyfriend.
Later in 2022, he was replaced as a judge on Britain's Got Talent after a Guardian story about a leaked recording of Walliams making insulting remarks about contestants during breaks from filming.
In the incident, which happened in 2020, he spoke about a pensioner to whom he had taken a strong dislike and a woman who he described as "the slightly boring girl you would meet in the pub" who "you would want to have sex with, but then decide not to". He used much stronger language when talking about both.
Walliams apologised, explaining: "These were private conversations and - like most conversations with friends - were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry."
He sued the show's producers Freemantle for misuse of his private information and breaching data protection laws. An "amicable resolution" was reached, with the production company apologising for the recording being made public.
Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Walliams raised more than £3m for the Sport Relief charity by swimming the English Channel in 2006 and the length of the River Thames in 2011.
Further controversy came in June 2025, when it emerged that Walliams had given two Nazi salutes during the recording of BBC One's Would I Lie to You? Christmas special.
Banijay UK, which owned the show's production company Zeppotron, apologised, adding: "It was immediately acknowledged during the recording that this segment would not be broadcast under any circumstances." Walliams has never commented on the incident.
Then in December 2025, HarperCollins, the publisher of his hugely successful children's books, announced that following a change of CEO, the company would no longer look after new releases by Walliams.
He was dropped over allegations he had harassed female members of staff, with HarperCollins explaining that the company took "employee wellbeing extremely seriously and has processes in place for reporting and investigating concerns".
The Daily Telegraph reported that an internal investigation had been opened the previous year after a complaint was made by a junior member of staff about his behaviour. This reportedly found that staff had been told to only meet Walliams in pairs and advised against going to his house.
Walliams' spokesperson responded by saying he "strongly denies that he has behaved inappropriately" and that he had "never been informed of any allegations raised against him" by the publisher.
Then in September 2026, HarperCollins doubled down by announcing that they were cutting all ties with Walliams and would no longer represent his back catalogue, meaning that when his books sold out in shops, they would not be replaced.
