"I Am Not a Sexual Predator," Walliams Writes as Women Make Claims

Several women have accused the comedian and author David Walliams of pursuing them for sex when they were teenagers or young women, allegations he denies, a joint Guardian and ITV News investigation reported on November 10. ^[1][2]

Two of the women say they first met him when they were 15. The investigation, which took three years, also reports allegations of inappropriate conduct towards women at work. None of this has been tested in court, and the story is still developing. ^[1][2]

Walliams, 55, rose to fame with Matt Lucas in the early 2000s through the sketch show Little Britain. He later became a judge on Britain's Got Talent and built a huge second career writing children's books. ^[1][2]

What the women say

One woman, whom the Guardian calls Alex, says she met Walliams at a fan event in 2004, when she was 15. She says he contacted her afterwards and they stayed in touch. They began having sex when she was 17, she says. ^[1][2]

Walliams's lawyers say he believed she was 18 when she got back in touch with him. They deny he groomed her, and say he does not recall asking her for sexual photographs. ^[1][2]

A second woman, called Jade, says she met him at 15 and that he invited her to his home and initiated sexual contact. In the BBC's account of the investigation, she alleges that he kissed her, lifted her shirt, and carried out an act she now describes as sexual assault. She also says he tried to put her hand down his trousers. Walliams strongly denies having sexual contact with her and denies any criminal activity. ^[1][2]

A third, Lilly Creightmore, has waived anonymity. She told BBC Newsnight that Walliams contacted her when she was 18 and offered that she could move in as his flatmate. She says she felt pressured to share a bed and manipulated by his advances. ^[2]

His lawyers deny that he groomed her or acted inappropriately. Walliams said he saw their friendship as special. He denied that his offers of help or gifts were attempts to coerce her into sex. ^[2]

The investigation also reports allegations from women who worked as models. One says he tried to kiss her while showing her around his home. Walliams described that as a clumsy pass, said he made no further approaches, and denied intending to intimidate her or make her uncomfortable. ^[2]

Work, power and the denials

The women describe relationships in which his fame and his control of opportunities mattered. That imbalance sits at the centre of their accounts. It does not, on its own, establish criminal conduct, and Walliams says he did not exploit his fame. ^[1][2]

Some women allege inappropriate conduct on Britain's Got Talent, including invitations to his dressing room. Syco Entertainment said it had no knowledge of the allegations and was not told of them at the time. The production company Fremantle UK said no complaint had been made against him and invited anyone with concerns to come forward. ^[2]

At his publisher HarperCollins, the investigation reports, Walliams had a sexual relationship with at least one junior employee and pursued another. One intern is reported to have described her relationship with him as consensual but felt it was an abuse of power. ^[1][2]

HarperCollins said it takes employee wellbeing extremely seriously. Walliams denies sexually harassing anyone at the publisher or behaving inappropriately in the workplace. The Guardian reports that HarperCollins dropped him as an author last year and said in September it would stop publishing his back catalogue too. ^[1][2]

In a letter to the journalists, Walliams did not deny every detail of his conduct. He said he had sometimes behaved thoughtlessly towards people with whom he had casual sexual relationships, and regretted not always taking their feelings properly into account. ^[1][2]

But he drew a hard line. "I am not a sexual predator," he wrote, and "I have not broken the law." He also denied abusing the power that comes with fame. ^[1][2]

The legal fight and the fallout

Walliams went to court to stop the investigation being published. The High Court rejected his request for an injunction the week before publication, and he did not appeal. ^[2]

The consequences came fast. His literary agent, Independent Talent Group, confirmed it had dropped him. The BBC removed Little Britain from its iPlayer streaming service. Sky said it was dropping an upcoming adaptation of his book Fing! and had removed content featuring him from its platforms. ^[2]

The sequence is worth pausing on. A publisher had already stepped away from him before any of this was public, and the broadcasters moved once the allegations appeared. The industry that built him is now sorting its shelves, and no one has yet said what, if anything, it knew.

Syco and Fremantle say they heard nothing at the time. HarperCollins has not detailed what led it to end the relationship. Whether other institutions that worked with him will review their own handling of concerns is not yet known. ^[2]

What is not known

No charges have been reported, and no police finding against Walliams. The Metropolitan Police said it had contacted The Guardian and ITV News so that potential victims could be told how to report possible criminal allegations. ^[2]

Whether any of the women will make a formal report is not known. Nor is it known whether more women will come forward or whether the reporters will publish further material.

Much of the dispute turns on age, intent and consent, and on what a famous man knew about the people he was messaging. Those are questions for the women, for Walliams and, if it comes to it, for police and courts. For now there are the accounts, the denials and one letter in which a very famous comedian says he is sorry he was thoughtless but insists he is not a predator.

The next step, if there is one, lies with the women and the police, who have moved to make sure potential complainants know how to report. ^[2]