Friends are backing away, his books are binned and shows scrubbed – the downfall of David Walliams

November 12, 2026 — 3:23pmBritish broadcaster and TV personality Jonathan Ross has distanced himself from and said he is horrified by allegations that have surfaced against comedian and children’s author David Walliams this week, just days after comedian Russell Brand’s rape conviction.Walliams is accused of grooming teenage fans, the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl, as well as harassing young female colleagues, according to a three-year joint investigation by The Guardian and ITV News published on Wednesday (AEDT). He has vigorously denied the allegations.“I am as horrified by the revelations about David Walliams and the crimes of Russell Brand as the rest of the nation,” Ross said in a statement to The Guardian. Following publication of the allegations, Ross has been criticised over a joke he made at the 2004 British Comedy Awards about Walliams going home with a 15-year-old.Children’s author, TV presenter and comedian David Walliams is the subject of a sexual misconduct investigation.Getty Images“This joke was submitted to me by the Comedy Awards scriptwriting team, and I believed that the punchline was a reference to the fact he had publicly dated younger women, exaggerated for comic effect,” the statement said.Ross said that had he “any reason to suspect that it might be referring to actual events” he would have refused to perform the joke and ended his relationship with Walliams.Hours after the allegations emerged, the ABC, Seven Network and Australian streamer Stan* had scrubbed the 55-year-old Order of the British Empire recipient’s shows from their platforms.Australian bookshop chain Dymocks’ chief executive David Allen confirmed that on Wednesday all stores had been told to immediately stop sales of, and remove from shelves, all of Walliams’ books and any related merchandise.The allegations were initially blocked from publication after Walliams sought a suppression order in the British high court, his lawyers arguing that making the allegations public could lead to Walliams taking his own life.The suppression order was denied, and Walliams has rejected allegations of any wrongdoing via his lawyers since the story was published.Who is David Walliams?The London-born comedian came to fame in the early 2000s as a co-creator and star of the BBC sketch comedy show Little Britain, with Matt Lucas. The show was a hit here and in the UK, earning multiple BAFTA Awards. Walliams and Lucas later partnered again for another BBC show, the airport comedy Come Fly with Me.In 2008 Walliams began writing children’s books, including The Boy in the Dress, Gangsta Granny and Billionaire Boy, selling an estimated 60 million copies across the world. He was a judge on Britain’s Got Talent from 2012 to 2022, and also appeared as a judge on the Australian version of the show in 2022.Walliams has published more than 40 children’s books and sold millions of copies worldwide.Getty ImagesThe comedian won the National Television Award for Best TV Judge four times as BGT’s host, and more than 50 million copies of his novels have been sold worldwide. The BBC adapted several of Walliams novels into comedy dramas and touring theatre productions.In 2006, Walliams was voted Britain’s most inspiring public figure at the Pride of Britain awards, and in 2017 he received an Order of the British Empire for services to charity and the arts.What are the allegations?A number of women have detailed their experiences of being allegedly groomed or experiencing inappropriate behaviour from Walliams dating back to 2003.In The Guardian’s report, a woman named Alex, recalls meeting Walliams when she was 15 years old and he was 32. As an aspiring comedian, she gave him some of her work for advice. He called her and the pair were in contact for about two years, before they began allegedly having sex, by which time Alex was 17.Diary notes of the time Walliams began contacting Alex show the teenager elated by the fact she was talking to him. Alex also alleges that Walliams told her how to pose in explicit images while she was underage.The comedian’s lawyers say he understood her to be 18 when they began having sexual contact, and that he does not recall or believe he asked Alex to send him sexual pictures of herself. Walliams’ lawyers also say Alex’s allegations that he groomed her are false and caused him significant distress.“I want to vomit [when I think about the experience],” Alex told The Guardian. “I hate him. My body reacts when I think about it. It’s like a trauma response. I never said no … but I felt unable to say anything or have any control in that situation once I was with him.”Jade, another teenager in The Guardian’s report said she also met Walliams when she was 15, in 2007. He was 36. Weeks after he first made contact via social media, he allegedly invited her to his house and initiated sexual contact. She had previously told Walliams she was a victim of sexual abuse.Walliams’ lawyers say allegations he groomed teenagers are false.“I wasn’t ready for sex. I didn’t want to do that with him or with anyone. I was very uncomfortable with my own body as well. And I didn’t – I didn’t want to be touched in that way at all. I mean, I was only a 15-year-old,” Jade told The Guardian. Lawyers for Walliams say he denies he had any sexual contact with Jade.The allegations also cast new light on an incident in 2007, when Little Britain was on tour in Australia. As washed-up TV presenter Des Kaye, Walliams pulled a 16-year-old boy on to the stage and proceeding to kiss him on the lips and pull down his trousers and underwear.The developments come almost a year after Walliams was dropped by his publisher HarperCollins and the literary agency Independent Talent Group following a UK Telegraph report into alleged inappropriate behaviour towards young women.Also this week, British author Chloe Combi said she began hearing concerning rumours about Walliams’s behaviour in the publishing industry more than a decade ago and was warned off inviting him to do school appearances.Meanwhile, comedian Lucy Beaumont told Sky News that she was one of the people who spoke to The Guardian with allegations about Walliams, after she was approached by a former TV staffer.The suppression bidWhen The Guardian and ITV first put questions to Walliams, the comedian sought a permanent injunction in the high court to prevent the story’s publication. He was referred to as “PPT” in the matter, and described as a “well-known individual”.Walliams’ lawyers applied for the suppression order arguing that the publication of the investigation carried serious risk of the comedian committing suicide. His barrister, Sara Mansoori KC, said Walliams first attempted suicide in May after he had been contacted about the allegations, and then again in July.The Guardian and ITV said their report, which included 30 sources with first-hand accounts, contained allegations sufficiently serious to justify a criminal investigation.HarperCollins is phasing out its back catalogue of Walliams’ bestselling children’s books.GettyThe media outlets’ barrister, Gavin Millar KC, argued that the European Court of Human Rights had never recognised a court’s duty to protect a claimant from self-harm risk by preventing a media organisation from publishing a story. He argued state agencies such as the NHS had a duty to protect Walliams.The judge, Justice Nicklin, ruled that while the risk of Walliams attempting to take his own life was “genuine, grave and closely connected to the court’s decision and any subsequent publication” it was “necessary but not sufficient” and refused to grant the injunction.The Australian responseOn Wednesday, the ABC confirmed it had removed content from ABC iview, believed to be two movies, Ratburger and Grandpa’s Great Escape, both of which are adapted from Walliams’ novels and include Walliams in the cast.Stan* also confirmed it had removed the upcoming film Fing!, which was adapted from Walliams’ 2019 book of the same name, from its content slate. And Seven removed the 2022 season of Australia’s Got Talent, which featured Walliams as a judge, from its streaming platform.The UK responseSince the allegations have been published, the BBC confirmed it is pulling Little Britain and reviewing all other TV shows featuring Walliams.Walliams’ publisher, HarperCollins, dropped the bestselling author last year and in September this year announced it was no longer publishing his extensive back catalogue.Russell Brand was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison this week, while David Walliams was identified as the star at the centre of a sexual misconduct investigation.GettyAccording to The Guardian and ITV, the publisher severed ties with Walliams after concerns were raised about his behaviour, including allegations he’d had a sexual relationship with a junior female employee and pursued another.How has Walliams responded?In a statement to The Guardian and ITV, Walliams denied any wrongdoing.“Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with,” he said.Walliams said he realised he did not “always take people’s feelings properly into account” and that is something he regrets.He added that a power imbalance was inevitable when one party is famous. However, 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,” he said.Support is available from Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636 and Lifeline on 13 11 14, and from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).*Stan is owned by Nine, the publisher of this masthead.Get the day’s breaking news, entertainment ideas and a long read to enjoy. Sign up to receive our Evening Edition newsletter.Kayla Olaya is a culture reporter at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.From our partners