A second male celebrity has reportedly obtained an injunction to prevent the publication of allegations against him, days after David Walliams was named as a figure accused of sexual misconduct.
According to a journalist on the Private Eye Podcast, recorded before Walliams was identified, there are two men who currently cannot be named. The journalist, Justine Smith, said: "There are two men at the moment who can’t be named. One for the most recent proceedings, and then one from several months back." She added: "Both of them have injunctions against reporting anything. Both of them multiple, multiple victims. Both of them in the public eye."
Journalist says alleged victim willing to speak
Smith said she had spoken to one of the alleged victims, who was "prepared to speak publicly and be named" but that publication was blocked by an injunction. "He’s managed to get an injunction, very heavily slapped anyone who dares to say anything about it," Smith continued. "So we know this man is out there potentially abusing other people, and there’s nothing we can do to report it."
Walliams was named on Tuesday as the subject of an investigation by ITV and The Guardian. He is accused of grooming young women and teenagers, some as young as 15, for sex and using his position of power to manipulate them. One woman has alleged he groped her when she was 15. He denies all allegations, including any criminal acts.
Injunction application rejected
Walliams had applied for an injunction citing himself as a suicide risk, but the application was rejected on the grounds that the allegations were in the public interest and that his health was the responsibility of the NHS and psychiatric services. He declined to appeal, and a temporary injunction was lifted on 10 November, allowing publication.
In a statement, Walliams said: "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 into account properly. 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… I am devastated that some of the women I met ten to twenty years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me."
The news follows the sentencing of comedian Russell Brand to 10 and a half years in prison for rape and sexual assault. Brand was found guilty of one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault, with allegations brought to light in a joint investigation by Channel 4's Dispatches and The Times.
If you have been a victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via www.rapecrisis.org.uk or by calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999.
