A joke made by Jonathan Ross about David Walliams at the 2004 British Comedy Awards has resurfaced following the publication of allegations against the Little Britain star.
Walliams, now 55, came to prominence as co-star of the comedy sketch programme Little Britain and was romantically linked with a number of high-profile women in the 2000s. At the 2004 awards ceremony, Ross opened the show with a joke about Walliams, saying: "The comedy awards is 15 years old - 15 years old! And like most 15-year-olds, it's drunk, it's unpredictable and it's probably going home with David Walliams."
Walliams appeared to chuckle and raise two fingers in Ross's direction in response. Ross, approached by The Guardian, responded through lawyers that he did not write the joke himself.
Allegations and Court Battle
Walliams was revealed as the subject of a major investigation probing a series of allegations after he lost a court battle attempting to block their publication. He sought an injunction to prevent publication due to the risk he would take his own life, following two previous suicide attempts.
Details of the probe were published by The Guardian and ITV News, revealing that multiple women alleged the author used his fame to prey on them for sexual purposes. Walliams has strenuously denied all the allegations.
Legal Proceedings and Response
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". Walliams was granted anonymity during the proceedings, which was lifted after his injunction bid was dismissed and GNM and ITN published their investigations.
In a reported letter to The Guardian and ITV News regarding the claims, the comedian 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 properly into account. That is something I regret."
He added: "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."
