David Walliams' social media pages are under scrutiny after the actor was accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women. The comments section on his Instagram profile, which has two million followers, has drawn attention since the allegations became public.
Yesterday, Walliams was named as the celebrity who tried to stop two media organisations from publishing allegations against him and lost his High Court challenge. It was alleged he used "abuse of power and status" to contact young women and try to engage in "inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities". Walliams denies the allegations.
Eerie comments on last Instagram post
The last post Walliams made on Instagram was in March of this year. He shared a picture of himself, his mother, and Matt Lucas, with a caption wishing his mum a happy Mother's Day. The star seemed to have disappeared from social media since then.
However, his comments section includes eerie comments from people suspecting what was to come before the news of the allegations broke. One concerned Instagram user commented under one of his posts: "You haven't posted in so long. I hope you're ok."
Another said: "That's a super injunction. Sorry, autocorrect; I meant super photo." A third shared: "You're trending on Twitter again btw. We ALL know why."
High Court ruling and statement
In a ruling on November 3, Mr Justice Nicklin dismissed the bid for an injunction, ruling it would be an "exceptionally serious interference" with freedom of expression, but said the figure could take his case to the Court of Appeal. The judge said that any notice of appeal or request for further time would have to be filed with the Court of Appeal by 4.30pm on Monday, but court staff confirmed that, after this deadline, neither document had been received.
Walliams sought an injunction to prevent this broadcast and publication because of a risk that he would take his own life, after two previous suicide attempts.
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."
