UK children’s author David Walliams accused of grooming minors

British comedian and children’s author David Walliams, 55, has been accused of grooming teenage fans and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl at his house, according to British media outlets.

The Guardian newspaper and ITV News broadcaster published a joint investigation on Tuesday into allegations by multiple women who gave firsthand accounts of Walliams’s alleged misconduct.

Walliams denied targeting teenagers and using his fame to manipulate them to have sex, his lawyers told the media.

Walliams said he “behaved thoughtlessly” in a letter addressing journalists, which was published by The Guardian.

“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,” he wrote.

Walliams is best known for starring in the BBC’s popular “Little Britain” sketch show in the early 2000s.

He authored more than 40 books, including “Mr. Stink”, “Gangsta Granny” and “The Boy in the Dress”, with his work translated into more than 50 languages and reportedly selling 50 million copies.

He was also a judge on ITV’s “Britain’s Got Talent” for years but stepped down in 2022 after apologising for making “disrespectful comments” about auditioning contestants.

Following ITV News and The Guardian’s investigation, the BBC said it was removing some programmes and would conduct a review of “all material featuring and written by David Walliams on our platforms”.

Last year, his publisher, HarperCollins, dropped him after he faced accusations of harassing young female colleagues, which he denied.

He sought a court injunction to prevent ITV News and The Guardian from identifying him in their reporting but was blocked by a UK High Court judge last week.

Walliams’s lawyer, Sara Mansoori, told the court he had made an attempt on his life when he received letters from the publications seeking his response to the allegations. She said he later made another attempt, and he was admitted to hospital for psychiatric care last month.

A summary of the court judgement stated that some of the alleged conduct could amount to criminal offences if proven.

Allegations

Nearly all the women alleging sexual misconduct by Walliams were identified only by first names.

A woman named as “Jade” said Walliams, then aged 36, contacted her through a social media page showing her age as 15 and invited her to his house in 2007. She accused him of “sexual assault” and “grooming”.

Walliams’s lawyers denied sexual contact with Jade.

A woman named as “Alex” told The Guardian that he first met her when she was a 15-year-old aspiring comedy writer and he was 32. She alleged that they engaged in sexual conduct for the first time at his home when she was 17 and he was 34.

“I think I was groomed, 100 percent. We met when I was 15, and he was promising to help me,” she said.

It is illegal in the UK for someone older than 18 to intentionally communicate with a child younger than 16 for a sexual purpose. Walliams’s lawyers told The Guardian he believed Alex was 18.