Comedian Lucy Beaumont, 43, has confirmed that she was one of the whistleblowers who alerted the Guardian to David Walliams' alleged conduct, and fears she may not work in TV again because of it. Speaking to presenter Cathy Newman on Sky News, Beaumont described how she helped an alleged victim of Walliams who told her it was his job to take young girls to Walliams' dressing room.
Allegations and legal challenge
Walliams, 55, was named as the celebrity who tried to stop two media organisations from publishing allegations against him after losing his high court challenge. The former Little Britain and Britain's Got Talent star brought legal action against Independent Television News (ITN) and Guardian News and Media (GNM), publisher of The Guardian.
The court heard they intended to report his alleged "abuse of power and status" to contact young women and try to engage in "inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities". Walliams, who has always denied the claims, was seeking an injunction to prevent this broadcast and publication because of a risk that he would take his own life, following two previous suicide attempts.
Beaumont's account
Beaumont said she first became aware of allegations against Walliams three years ago after being contacted by a young person who had got their first job on TV. "They worked on a show he was on and the next show they worked on was with me and they took me aside and said, 'I need to tell somebody something,'" she explained.
She alleged: "His job was to take young girls, he didn't think they were children... he definitely knew they were over 16, and he had to take them to Walliams' dressing room. The thing that struck me about it and that I was very concerned about was that he said that they were very working class girls, and some of them had never been to London before. They'd never been around TV. He felt they were vulnerable."
Beaumont said she was "really worried" when she heard the claims. "I used to work in schools, I've been trained in safeguarding. I did as much as I could do privately and whenever I've heard a rumour about anyone, I've done everything I can. There's only so much you can do, I'm not the police. Nothing seems to be illegal."
Contacting the Guardian and NDA concerns
Because she was deeply concerned, she contacted the Guardian. "People are saying why tell journalists," she said. "There's no HR department in TV, there's no proper duty of care, there's no social services that you deal with and it's partly because the industry is very well-managed. These are very rare things to happen."
Beaumont confirmed that she never witnessed anything untoward with Walliams herself, but that she tried to contact one of the girls who had been taken to his dressing room. She alleged that one of the young girls she contacted was in a "really bad way" and she feared that she would take her own life. "I was really worried about her," she said. "To be honest, I was really worried she was going to take her own life because of it. She had put stuff online, there was evidence that she was in a dressing room. I offered to pay legal fees to try and get her some protection."
Beaumont said she believes the young girl signed an NDA, which she nearly cried about during the interview. "She, I believe, signed an NDA and this is the issue with some of these NDAs. The NDA wasn't just about the fact that she couldn't talk to the media - I'm nearly crying telling you this - it was that she couldn't talk to family or friends or a therapist."
Beaumont said she is speaking out despite "everyone [she] knows knows", adding: "I don't hear anybody talking about it. And honestly, I don't think I'll work in telly again. The reason high profile people are not saying anything is because they lose work [and] you might be seen as a trouble causer. There needs to be an intervention. How can there be an NDA taken against someone who feels she was groomed as a child and she's not allowed to speak to even a therapist or a friend?"
