A second famous man has reportedly obtained an injunction preventing allegations about him from being published, according to a journalist on the Private Eye Podcast.
The claim was made by journalist Justine Smith on an episode recorded before David Walliams was named as the male celebrity accused of grooming and sexually inappropriate behaviour towards multiple women.
Second Man Cannot Be Named
“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,” Ms Smith said.
“Both of them have injunctions against reporting anything. Both of them multiple, multiple victims. Both of them in the public eye.”
Ms Smith added that she had spoken to one of the alleged victims. She stated that the woman was “prepared to speak publicly and be named” but the injunction means she cannot publish the article.
Walliams Legal Action
Earlier in the week, David Walliams, 55, brought legal action against Independent Television News (ITN) and Guardian News and Media (GNM), publisher of The Guardian, ahead of the two organisations reporting allegations against him, including of sexual misconduct and potential criminal activity.
Lawyers for the media organisations previously told the High Court in London that the allegations involved Walliams’ alleged “abuse of power and status” to contact young women and try to engage in “inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities”.
Injunction Bid Dismissed
Denying any wrongdoing, Walliams unsuccessfully sought an injunction to prevent these publications because of the risk he would take his own life after two previous suicide attempts. The anonymity the author was granted was lifted after his injunction bid was dismissed and GNM and ITN published their investigations.
In a letter understood to have been sent several months ago by Walliams to journalists working on the ITV News and Guardian investigations, he wrote: “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 properly into account. 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.”
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.”
Ms Smith said of the second man: “He’s managed to get an injunction, very heavily slapped anyone who dares to say anything about it. So we know this man is out there potentially abusing other people, and there’s nothing we can do to report it.”
