The BBC has removed the 2012 animated adaptation of Julia Donaldson's children's book Room On The Broom, which features David Walliams as a frog, following sexual misconduct allegations.
Walliams, a best-selling author and former Britain's Got Talent judge, 55, was named as part of an alleged sexual misconduct investigation published by The Guardian and ITV News on Tuesday. One woman described her alleged encounter with Walliams when she was 15 as "sexual assault", while several other women accused him of "grooming" them during their teenage years. Walliams denies any wrongdoing.
Police Receive Allegations
On Friday, the Metropolitan Police confirmed it had received a number of non-recent "serious" sex offence allegations against him "in recent days". Earlier in the week, the BBC announced it was conducting a review of "all material" featuring and written by Walliams across its platforms and was in the process of "removing" some content.
One such programme to be axed is the animated adaptation of Room On The Broom, in which Walliams lends his voice to a frog alongside Gillian Anderson as the witch and Simon Pegg as the narrator. His character has just three lines in the 30-minute film, along with some "ribbits". In one line, his character says: "I am a frog, as clean as can be. Is there room on the broom for a frog like me?"
BBC Statement and Wider Removal
A BBC spokesperson said: "These are serious allegations. As such, the BBC is looking carefully at all material featuring and written by David Walliams on our platforms. We are in the process of removing some programmes, including Little Britain, whilst this review is under way."
Walliams shot to fame alongside Matt Lucas in the BBC sketch comedy series Little Britain, which ran from 2003 until 2006. The pair went on to create and star in Come Fly With Me, which aired on the BBC for a single series in 2010. Both programmes are currently unavailable on iPlayer, as is a 2020 episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featuring Walliams. Adaptations of his hugely popular children's books including Gangsta Granny and Billionaire Boy are also unavailable on the service.
Other Broadcasters Follow Suit
Other broadcasters have similarly pulled programming featuring Walliams from their streaming platforms. Channel 4 has removed episodes of 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown and the 2021 special Chitty Flies Again featuring Walliams.
Sky has likewise withdrawn Walliams' content from its platform and relinquished distribution rights to the forthcoming film Fing! based on his 2019 children's book. In a statement, a Sky spokesperson said: "The allegations made against David Walliams are extremely serious. We have notified the producers of the film of our intention to exit our position as the UK and Ireland licensee of Fing!. We have already removed content which features him from our platforms."
Angel Studios confirmed it would proceed with releasing the film in the US, however a cameo featuring Walliams would be cut and he would play no part in its promotion.
Walliams' Response and Background
Walliams is yet to respond to Tuesday's reports published by The Guardian or ITV News. However, in a letter believed to have been sent to journalists several months ago while they were working on their investigations, he denied being a "sexual predator". Walliams acknowledged he "behaved thoughtlessly" on occasion, and expressed regret for failing to take people's feelings "properly into account", but maintained he had not broken the law.
The ITV and The Guardian reports concerning Walliams followed his unsuccessful bid to obtain an injunction to prevent the media from revealing his identity – with his legal team arguing there was a risk he would take his own life following two previous suicide attempts. A number of sources alleged inappropriate conduct towards women at the prime-time programme BGT, where Walliams served as a judge from 2012 to 2022, and at his publisher HarperCollins, which parted ways with him last year. The allegations further resulted in Walliams being dropped by his literary agency, Independent Talent Group. The Press Association has contacted the BBC and representatives for Julia Donaldson for comment.
