British comedian and children’s author David Walliams has been accused of grooming and harassing multiple teenage girls and women, as per a three-year investigation by The Guardian and a report from ITV. The 55-year-old comedian is best known for co-creating and starring in the award-winning sketch show Little Britain and serving as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent.
Walliams denied the allegations, and his lawyers sought a court injunction to prevent their publication. “I am not a sexual predator,” Walliams wrote in a letter initially addressed to journalists investigating the claims. “I have not broken the law, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 or 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.”
The report alleges that Walliams began grooming two women when they were just 15. One of them, a woman identified as “Jade,” claims that Walliams had invited her to his home and made sexual advancements towards her just weeks after they first met on MySpace. “I wasn’t ready for sex. I didn’t want to do that with him or with anyone. I mean, I was only a 15-year-old.”
The legal age of consent in the United Kingdom is 16
“Alex” claims she met Walliams with her mother at a fan event when she was 15. As an aspiring comedy writer herself, Alex gave him copies of her original scripts along with a cover letter and her contact information.
This developed into a 2-year phone and email exchange that led to Walliams eventually requesting sexually explicit photographs. Alex alleges that they first had unprotected sex in his London apartment when she was 17, and maintains that their encounters were consensual.
“I think I was groomed, 100%. We met when I was 15 and he was promising to help me and was a figure of authority and someone that I looked to for guidance and help,” said Alex. “I want to vomit. I hate him. My body reacts when I think about it. It’s like a trauma response.”
In December 2025, HarperCollins dropped Walliams from its roster following accusations of inappropriate behavior and workplace harassment, the Associated Press reports. The announcement made headlines for an unexpected reason: during a Sky News report, arts and entertainment correspondent Katie Spender accidentally swore on live television while listing the number of his books published by the company. Then, in September of this year, the publisher announced it would gradually phase out Walliams’ extensive back catalog.
This is not the first time Walliams’ work has been pulled from distribution. Little Britain was removed from BBC iPlayer and Netflix in 2020 due to offensive material. A re-edited version of the show returned to iPlayer in 2022 to “better reflect the cultural landscape since the show was made,” as per the BBC.
That same year, Walliams left Britain’s Got Talent after leaked recordings surfaced of him making derogatory and sexually explicit remarks about contestants. Members of the show’s staff and audience have also come forward with allegations of harassment against Walliams. Representatives from Fremantle and Syco, the production companies behind Britain’s Got Talent, say neither company knew of the allegations.
“Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with,” Walliams wrote. “I realise I did not always take people’s feelings properly into account. That is something I regret.”
Published: Nov 10, 2026 05:45 pm