Resurfaced television clips show the late comedian Sean Lock making his feelings about David Walliams and Russell Brand clear years before allegations against both men came to light. Lock, who died from cancer in 2021 at the age of 58, made the comments on the Channel 4 show 8 Out of 10 Cats.
Brand was jailed for 10 and a half years for rape and sexual assault this week. Walliams has been the subject of a joint investigation by the Guardian and ITV News, in which he has been accused of allegedly using his celebrity status to prey on vulnerable teenagers and young women for sex. He has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Lock's Comments on Brand
In a 2014 clip from 8 Out of 10 Cats, Lock said about Brand: "Maybe the reason I hate him so much is that I am a dad, and I have this fear that one day my daughters will bring something like that home. And he will come in and go so, 'Oh such pleasure to be in your charming abode...'"
Lock also criticised Brand's political commentary, claiming Brand had "back-pedalled so much" from his earlier stance urging people not to vote in elections. Lock said: "If you reduce that to what he is actually saying, he is saying what everybody says on every bus stop: 'Huh politicians. What are they like hey? How did that lot get in, bloody hell.'"
When Melanie C, former member of the Spice Girls, who was on Lock's team at the time, seemed to defend Brand by reasoning how things would change unless people come together, Lock responded: "Him saying stuff to people who are disaffected already and are not engaged with the political process and don't vote is the most moronic, self-serving, pathetic bit of attention-seeking w*** that has ever been spewed out of a moron's f***ing mouth in history."
Reaction to Walliams' Joke
Lock had also reacted in horror five years earlier to a joke made by the Little Britain star and former Britain's Got Talent judge following the death of Michael Jackson, who had admitted to sharing his bed with children. Walliams said: "Have you heard Michael Jackson is dead?" When Jimmy Carr said yes, Walliams joked: "If it is wrong to share your bed with 13-year-old boys then lock me up and throw away the key."
Lock did not join in with some audience members' laughter, instead looking blankly ahead rather than at Walliams, according to the Mirror.
Lock's Views on Walliams' Books
In a stand-up routine, Lock also expressed dislike for Walliams' books, saying: "Urgh, I hate them. Those kids books he's written. I've gone on strike in my house, I refuse to read them to my kids. I said: 'I'm not reading them.'" Lock said the reason was the fart jokes, adding: "We already do those jokes at home. They're the easiest jokes to do with your kids. They're one of the few things that break up the tedious, grinding, repetitive monotony of domestic family life. The endless repetition of task after task after task."
Reacting to the resurfacing of the clips, one social media user wrote: "I love the timeline for reminding me how much Sean Lock hated both Russell Brand and David Walliams."
In a letter to journalists working on the investigation, Walliams wrote: "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, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me."
