A former friend of David Walliams has spoken out about what he describes as a repeated “pattern” of behaviour by the comedian when pursuing young women.
Ben (not his real name), who was friends with Walliams between 1997 and 2004, recalled how the 55-year-old allegedly approached women he found attractive and repeatedly pursued them.
Investigation uncovers multiple allegations
A three-year joint investigation by ITV News and The Guardian has uncovered multiple allegations of sexual misconduct involving the comedian and author, spanning more than two decades.
ITV has released a documentary, David Walliams: Power & Silence, which is due to air tonight at 10.50pm and is already available to watch on YouTube and ITVX.
The hour-long documentary details several allegations against Walliams. Among them is a woman who described an encounter with the comedian when she was 15 as “sexual assault”.
Allegations of grooming and harassment
Several other women have accused the TV personality of “grooming” them when they were teenagers, according to the investigation.
One woman alleged that Walliams began contacting her when she was 15, after meeting him at a Little Britain fan event, before beginning a sexual relationship with her when she was 17, ITV News reported.
Walliams has also faced allegations of inappropriate behaviour and sexual harassment during his time on Britain’s Got Talent and in his dealings with publisher HarperCollins.
Former friend describes alleged approach
In the documentary, Ben described what he believed was a recurring approach Walliams took when pursuing women.
He said: “See a woman, think she’s attractive, find out how to contact her, send her flowers via that contact asking her out to dinner. Take her out for dinner, invite her back to yours. If she doesn’t come, be sad. Phone her every day until she agrees that the next time she will come to his.”
Ben also suggested that the entertainment industry had helped shield Walliams from scrutiny, despite the allegations and concerns he said had repeatedly emerged.
He continued: “Someone shouldn’t be on television, shouldn’t have a publishing deal, shouldn’t have all this power, all this influence, all this ability to do things without criticism, without questioning, without any form of justice.”
He went on to describe what he believed was a recurring culture of protecting powerful figures.
“Money, fame, success, everyone wants to be around it. Everybody wants to protect it. It’s when you hear those same things said time and time again, those same patterns, the same patterns of behaviour, same coverups from above. The same angry responses, the same legal letters sent threatening people.
“It’s always the same. If you keep seeing the same thing over and over again, you recognise it, you know it. It is that person, there’s no doubt. It’s something if we don’t talk about people suffer in silence.”
Walliams disputes comments
Walliams has disputed Ben’s comments.
In a statement to The Guardian and ITV News, 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.
“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.”
