Key Points
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U.K. actor and presenter David Walliams has been identified as the celebrity who tried to stop an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct from being published by two news outlets.
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Walliams was accused of using his celebrity to prey upon women and girls as young as 15 years old for sex in a joint investigation conducted by The Guardian and ITV News.
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He has denied all of the allegations.
U.K. actor, comedian, and children’s author David Walliams has been revealed as the anonymous celebrity who took legal action to block the publication of an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct.
Walliams had sought a lifelong court injunction to prevent ITV News and The Guardian from running their joint investigation. A judge denied Walliams’ request last week, but kept his name from being released publicly until Monday.
The investigation was published by The Guardian Tuesday and features interviews with multiple individuals who accused Walliams of using his fame to groom young women and girls as young as 15 years old for sex.
Walliams’ lawyer, Sara Mansoori KC, told the High Court that the actor had attempted to take his own life twice after being contacted by the outlets about the allegations in May and could try again if his name was revealed, The Guardianreports. Walliams was also recently admitted to a hospital for psychiatric care where he remains, she said.
TheLittle Britainco-creator denies the allegations against him, but acknowledged in a statement to the outlets that he’d “behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with” over the years.
“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,” Walliams said. “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.”
Representatives for Walliams did not immediately respond to Entertainment Weekly‘s request for comment.
As part of their three-year-long joint investigation, The Guardian and ITV News spoke with multiple women who detailed Walliams’ alleged sexual misconduct, including one woman who accused him of sexually assaulting her at his home when she was 15 years old. Others claimed that he groomed them when they were teenagers.
The investigation also accused Walliams of inappropriate workplace behavior toward women while serving as a judge on Britain’s Got Talentand at his publisher, HarperCollins. The author wasdropped by the publisher over his alleged inappropriate behavior toward young female staff members, which he denied at the time, in December 2025.
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The comedian has since been dropped by his literary agent, Independent Talent Group, the BBC reports. The outlet also noted that it had begun removing programs featuring Walliams from its platforms.
“These are serious allegations. As such, the BBC is looking carefully at all material featuring and” the organization said in a statement. “We are in the process of removing some programmes, includingLittle Britain, whilst this review is underway.”
Fremantle UK, which produces Britain’s Got Talent, told the BBC that the company was “disturbed and concerned” by the allegations against Walliams, who served as a judge from 2012 to 2022. It stated that “during his time on the show and in the intervening period, no complaint was ever made regarding his behaviour to Fremantle UK.”
The company added, “If anyone feels they have been the subject of any impropriety or wrongdoing by anyone on any Fremantle or associated labels’ productions, we encourage them to come forward. We will treat any complaints seriously. Protecting the welfare of our employees, freelancers, contributors and fans has always been and absolutely remains paramount for the company.”
Walliams is a well-known comedian and television presenter in the U.K., frequently appearing on chat shows as well as in films like Stardust and Dinner for Schmucks.
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