David Walliams allegedly exchanged sexual messages with a teenager at the height of his fame, a woman accusing him of having groomed her as a child has claimed.
Walliams, 55, was identified as the subject of a major investigation after losing a court battle attempting to block the publication of allegations. Details were published by the Guardian and ITV News, revealing that multiple women have alleged the author used his fame to prey on them for sexual purposes. Walliams has strenuously denied all the allegations.
Alleged Contact with a 17-Year-Old
One woman, who claims she was 17 years old when she was allegedly contacted by Walliams, revealed an alleged text exchange she had with him. Another woman, identified as Alex, claimed to have met Walliams at a Little Britain fan event in 2004, when she was 15, after which he began contacting her. She further alleged they started a relationship when she was aged 17, telling investigative journalists she believed she was "groomed, 100%."
She claimed: "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. He used that power and abused that power the minute he felt he just about could and it was just about safe to."
Messages and Alleged Relationship
Alex claimed to have sent Walliams recent pictures of herself when she was 17, but claimed she was old enough to drink at the time. She also claimed Walliams had asked for more pictures, and, when she said what her evening plans were, alleged he had replied: "You in the bath is a nice thought." She responded: "Hmm.. You in the bath with me is a nicer thought… hehe…"
She said: "He was asking for photos and at first I would send photos of my face and then it was photos of my underwear and then he would put a lot of pressure on me, telling me how to pose and then I would actually be naked. He was asking me to do things I had not done before and there was that imbalance." By 2006, the report alleges, Alex and Walliams were having sex.
Second Allegation and Denials
Alex was one of two women to claim to have met the author when she was 15, with another, Jade, saying she had met him in the summer of 2007. She claimed to have met Walliams in a café after he sent her a private message on MySpace. The Guardian reports her having said: "It wasn’t long until he asked me if I’d ever had sex before." After the meet, she alleged Walliams kissed her on a side street before he invited her back to his house.
After taking her back to his home, she claimed he kissed her and lifted up her T-shirt, telling The Guardian: "I wasn't ready for sex... I didn't want to be touched in that way at all. I mean, I was only a 15-year-old." Walliams' lawyers have denied he groomed Alex, and further denied he had any sexual contact with Jade.
Walliams said in a response to ITV and The Guardian: "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."
