Richard Osman has revealed that he and David Walliams "fell out" early in their television careers and never worked together again. The TV producer and author recalled meeting the former Britain's Got Talent judge, who went by the name David Williams at the time, on the set of a computer game show.
Richard discussed his experiences with the then 21-year-old Walliams on his podcast, The Rest Is Entertainment, alongside Marina Hyde, during which the duo touched on the allegations that have been levelled at the comedian.
Allegations against Walliams
Walliams has been accused by several women of exploiting his fame and influence to prey on young women and teenage girls for sex. These allegations, uncovered in a joint investigation by the Guardian and ITV News, include claims from two women who say they first encountered the star when they were 15-years-old.
The Little Britain star has strongly denied any wrongdoing and said he's been "devastated" by the allegations.
Osman's recollection
Richard raised the subject while speaking warmly about comedian Joe Wilkinson, with whom he had worked earlier in the week, telling co-host Marina: "It felt like there was a period of time... funnily enough, I was working with Joe Wilkinson yesterday and I thought, 'how lovely to be working with that generation of comics'."
"Because you worked with David Walliams," Marina replied, to which Richard responded: "I worked with David in my first ever job, well, he was David Williams at the time."
He added: "He'd literally just left university and we worked on a computer game show and did a pilot for Hat Trick with Dominik Diamond hosting, and David Walliams and Simon Pegg were the talent in that."
"So, yeah, I knew him when he was 21-years-old. We fell out, not for any exciting reasons, shortly afterwards and I didn't work with him again. But I absolutely, of course, have followed his career and what he's done."
Reflections on 1990s TV culture
He went on to say: "I do think it's hard for any man who worked in television in the 1990s and the 2000s to not feel like they failed, to not feel blind, to not feel some sense of shame about what has happened."
"And it's not a sin of commission, it's a sin of omission, not understanding you need to create an environment in which everybody felt safe, I think."
"It was just not something that, when you're beginning a career, and you've got all this ambition, and you don't really understand what this industry is because you've just started in it."
"But then you look back and you think, if you'd started this stuff then, if you'd really started understanding what was going on then, and understood that that 90s laddy culture was not some kind of natural culture, it was a slightly weird adoration."
"So yeah, it's tough looking back, and it's horrific, it's unremittingly grim."
