David Walliams, the 55-year-old star of Little Britain, has been publicly identified as the celebrity who sought to block publication of allegations against him. Multiple women have accused him of sexually inappropriate behaviour and grooming, including incidents that allegedly occurred when they were teenagers. The allegations also extend to his conduct in the workplace, involving women behind the scenes of Britain's Got Talent and at his former publisher HarperCollins. Walliams has denied all the allegations.
Allegations from a Teenage Fan
One alleged victim, named as Alex, said she met Walliams at a fan event when she was 15. She alleged that by the time she was 17, the pair were having sex. She claimed Walliams offered her work experience as an aspiring writer, which later fell through. In emails sent to the teenager in 2005, Walliams asked: "How much school have you got left? Is this your final year?" In another, he wrote: "You are gorgeous." A further email read: "You in the bath is a nice thought."
Speaking to the Guardian, Alex said: "I want to vomit. 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."
She added: "OK, it's legal to have sex when you're 17, 18 – 16, even, but the context of who you're having sex with – if that person is double your age, if that person has known you from a young age and promised you things and is in a much bigger position of power than you, both in age, in work, in finance, in stature and size, like, everything, I really don't think that's OK."
Encounter in Soho and Belsize Park
Another woman, known as Jade, claims she met Walliams on MySpace when she was 15. The pair allegedly met in Soho, London, before Walliams allegedly asked her if she had engaged in sexual intercourse before. Embarrassed, she said she told Walliams she had not had sex but disclosed that she had been a victim of sexual abuse as a child. She said: "He was all sort of: 'Oh, I'm sorry about that.'"
As the pair left a cafe, Walliams allegedly offered to walk her home. When they reached a corner, he is accused of kissing the schoolgirl. Jade said the kiss was forceful and came as a surprise. She said: "I let him. I obviously kissed him back. But again, when I'm in that sort of [situation], I shut off completely."
The pair then went back to Walliams' five-storey townhouse in Belsize Park. He is accused of lifting up her top at the property, pulling down her bra and sucking her breasts. Jade also accuses him of trying to put his hands down her trousers. She said: "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."
Former Model's Account
Former model Lilly Creightmore claims she was 18 when Walliams, then 31, first contacted her in 2003. Sending a note to the teen, Walliams said: "When I saw you at the Little Britain recording, I was enraptured. Then when I saw you in Agent Provocateur, I so wanted to speak to you, but amongst all the frilly knickers I couldn't find the words."
He added: "I'd love to take you out sometime. I know we've never spoken but you seem lovely. David Walliams." After she fell out with her mother, Walliams invited her to stay with him for a couple of weeks at the end of 2003. She slept on the sofa but said that every night Walliams "would plead with me to share a bed with him and, you know, paw at me". She said: "At some point, he put his head in my lap and made me stroke his head. I didn't feel safe there and it wasn't a good situation, so I had to go stay somewhere else."
Workplace Conduct Allegations
During Walliams' time as a judge on Britain's Got Talent, production said he messaged young female runners. One 19-year-old showed her colleagues the messages she was receiving from Walliams. He wrote: "You always put a smile on my face x." He would refer to the runner as "gorgeous" and at one point wrote "Hot" under a photo posted on Instagram of her in a group of three other women and one man. The young runner sent a screenshot of the comment to colleagues, saying: "Erm, David's comment on my insta of us, WTF."
Another BGT insider, Amy, was 24 when she was assigned to work as Walliams' runner for a day in 2017. She alleges Walliams stared at her chest in a way that made her feel uncomfortable. Later, she recalls, she overheard him refer to her as "the one with the arse". She said his behaviour felt "predatory". She said: "It made me feel small and almost disembodied. Like I was not a person, but just a body."
A former junior employee working on BGT claimed he once walked in on two "very young" people in Walliams' dressing room, with the Little Britain star only wearing a towel. The worker told ITV: "I think there was a general sense on the production that David did what he wanted and that there was something sexual about how he behaved that was uncomfortable." At the end of the series, the employee was reportedly given an envelope containing £300 with a signed card from Walliams. He said: "When I mentioned that in front of one of the production coordinators – so quite a senior production staff member – she said, 'oh, there's your hush money'."
