Multiple women have described unwanted sexual advances from the comedy star, allegations he denies
David Walliams, one of Britain’s best-known television personalities and top-selling children’s authors, has been accused of using his power and celebrity status to prey on young women and teenagers for sex.
The allegations, which span many years, were made in a joint investigation with ITV News into Walliams’ conduct towards young women.
After the Guardian approached him for comment in May, Walliams and his lawyers went to court to try to stop the allegations being published. The court dismissed the case.
Multiple women spoke out describing unwanted sexual advances from the comedy star when they were young or vulnerable.
Dozens of other people said they had concerns about Walliams’ conduct. Some were young models and fans, aged between 17 and 22 at the time, whom Walliams messaged out of the blue on social media. Others said they had experienced or witnessed inappropriate behaviour in the workplace.
Lawyers for Walliams said he denied the allegations.
What are the allegations against Walliams?
Two women said they were 15 when they first met Walliams.
One, who the Guardian is calling Alex, met him at a Little Britain fan event in 2004. They were in touch periodically, through phone calls and emails until Alex turned 17, when she said he started asking for sexualised photographs. They later met three times at his flat, when she was 17 and 18. There they twice had sex, and on one occasion they had oral sex. Alex said that although consensual she felt she never had control of the situation and that Walliams abused his power.
The other woman, who the Guardian has called Jade, said Walliams kissed her and touched her sexually when she was 15 after making contact with her over the internet in 2007. Walliams was 36 when they met.
Both women said they felt they were groomed by Walliams and that he used his power and celebrity to initiate contact.
Two other women, Lilly Creightmore and a woman the Guardian has called Ella, said they felt Walliams had abused his power and celebrity to pursue them for sex, too.
Creightmore met Walliams when she was 18, in 2003, while Ella met him when she was 19 in 2007. Both women said he contacted them out of the blue and then pursued them for sex. Although neither woman had sex with him, they both felt his behaviour was inappropriate and that he had abused his power. Walliams denies the allegations from all four women. He does not deny having sex with Alex.
Do any of the allegations relate to Walliams’ time as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent?
In 2012, Walliams became a judge on Britain’s Got Talent (BGT).
It was on the set of the show, in 2016, that another woman, who the Guardian has called Sarah, said she met Walliams, when she was 18.
Walliams, who was 44 at the time, then invited her and her friend, who was also 18, to stay at his house. There, Sarah said, he served them wine and then tried to kiss her. She said Walliams then tried to lead her to his bedroom, despite her being so drunk she could hardly stand and telling him she was not interested in him sexually.
Sarah said: “If you have celebrity status, why can you not get women closer to your age range? … Is it, like, for manipulation? What do we have in common with a 44-year-old man?”
Walliams denied using his celebrity status to manipulate young women. His lawyers said he refuted the suggestion that he got Sarah drunk to take advantage of her and said there was no sexual contact and he did not force himself on her.
Did anyone who worked on the show have concerns?
Former staff at BGT told the Guardian and ITV News that concerns about Walliams’ behaviour extended to his treatment of young women who worked on the show. One former production runner said she felt “small” and “almost disembodied” after she said she heard Walliams refer to her as “the one with the arse”.
Other former BGT staff said two young runners, aged 19 and 21, told them that Walliams had got their personal phone numbers and messaged them. He called one “gorgeous” and allegedly asked the other to meet him outside work.
The women discussed the messages with colleagues who felt uncomfortable with one of the stars of the show contacting junior members of staff.
The production companies that make BGT, and ITV, which broadcasts the show, provided separate statements in which each said they were not aware of any complaints about Walliams.
Do any of the allegations relate to the world of publishing?
Walliams was dropped by his publisher HarperCollins in December 2025. The company announced it would no longer publish his back catalogue in September this year.
More than two years before, in early 2024, the publisher had undertaken an inquiry into alleged inappropriate behaviour towards young women in the workplace.
Former employees of the publisher told the Guardian and ITV News that concerns about Walliams’ behaviour towards female staff and young women at work events had been raised for many years.
Walliams had a sexual relationship with a junior employee at HarperCollins. The woman, who was 20 years his junior, was an intern when it started, later told colleagues that, looking back, she considered it an “abuse of power”, according to multiple sources.
Concerns were also raised with managers after Walliams obtained the email address of another junior member of staff and messaged her to ask her out.
A spokesperson for HarperCollins said the company had decided not to publish any new titles by Walliams and that it took “employee wellbeing extremely seriously”.
Why did the Guardian and ITV News have to go to court to get the allegations published?
In May, the Guardian and ITV News sent Walliams letters laying out the allegations from multiple sources and asking for his comment.
Lawyers for Walliams said that after reading the letters, he attempted suicide. He was treated in a psychiatric hospital and later absconded while on leave and made a second suicide attempt. His lawyers said his actions were not a sign of guilt – he denies the allegations – but rather a fear of public shame and “trial by media”.
His lawyers then applied to the court for an injunction, which would permanently stop the allegations from being published, arguing that publishing them would be a risk to his life. The case was heard in late October, and last week Mr Justice Nicklin handed down his judgment. He ruled that, while the risk to Walliams’ life must be taken seriously, the publication of the allegations “are matters capable of making a significant contribution to public debate” and the court could not prevent the Guardian or ITV News from publishing them.
The court had also heard that Walliams had “a signifiant psychiatric history” before he was approached about this investigation – with “recurrent depressive illness, longstanding suicidal ideation” and previous suicidal behaviour.
Walliams is now being treated in a mental health facility.
What does Walliams say about the allegations uncovered by the Guardian and ITV News?
Lawyers for Walliams said it was not true that he had abused his power and celebrity status for the purposes of having sex with young women and teenagers or that he acted as some kind of sexual predator. They said he was devastated if any of the women who spoke to the investigation felt that way.
They added that he had not engaged in grooming of young women.
His lawyers said he denied that he behaved inappropriately in the workplace and that the two relationships at HarperCollins had been consensual.
In a letter to journalists, 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.”
