David Walliams has been identified as the celebrity who unsuccessfully sought a High Court injunction to prevent publication of allegations that he targeted teenage girls and engaged in sexually inappropriate behaviour.
The comedian and children’s author denies wrongdoing. He argued that publication would put his life at risk, but a judge rejected the application, ruling that granting an order would pose a serious threat to freedom of expression.
Walliams, 55, did not appeal before the deadline, allowing ITV and The Guardian to name him after their joint investigation into allegations involving more than 100 people, including 30 said to have first-hand accounts.
Allegations involving teenage girls
One woman, referred to as Jade, alleges that Walliams contacted her online in 2007 when she was 15 and later sexually assaulted her at his home in London.
She said they met in Soho before he drove her to Supernova Heights, the mansion he bought from Oasis musician Noel Gallagher. Jade alleges that Walliams kissed her and touched her despite her making clear that she did not want sexual contact.
She said she had previously told him she had been sexually abused as a child and described the alleged incident as “sexual assault” and “grooming”.
Another woman, known as Alex, said she first met Walliams at a Little Britain fan event when she was 15. She alleges that he subsequently contacted her, offered help with her work and requested increasingly intimate photographs.
Alex said they began a sexual relationship when she was 17, at a time when Walliams was 34. She described the encounters as “very pushy” and said she felt unable to exercise control over what happened.
She told the investigation: “He was a figure of authority to me and someone that I looked to for guidance and help. And he used that power and abused that power.”
Walliams has said he believed Alex was 18 when they had sex. He said he was “mortified to learn” that what he regarded as a brief, consensual relationship had caused her distress.
Model Lilly Creightmore also alleged that Walliams contacted her after seeing her on television when she was 16. She said he later offered her accommodation when she was between homes and tried to persuade her to share a bed with him.
Walliams’s lawyers said the suggestion that he groomed Alex was false and had caused him significant distress.
Walliams’s response and the court battle
In a statement, Walliams acknowledged that he had sometimes behaved thoughtlessly in casual sexual relationships but rejected the wider allegations.
“I realise I did not always take people’s feelings properly into account. That is something I regret,” he said.
He added: “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. I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.”
The application was brought on the basis that publication would breach Walliams’s right to life, rather than the privacy arguments commonly used in attempts to restrict reporting.
The High Court heard that he had threatened to take his own life after learning of the allegations and had attempted suicide twice, according to his barrister. A psychiatrist who assessed him said his mood disorder was treatable and that it would be safer for him to remain in a secure hospital if the allegations were published.
Representing the media organisations, Gavin Millar KC described the argument as unprecedented and said questions about the causes of suicidal thoughts should be addressed by medical professionals rather than a judge.
The allegations emerged 11 months after publisher HarperCollins ended its relationship with Walliams following reports of inappropriate behaviour towards junior female employees. The publisher later said it would stop publishing his entire back catalogue, which includes Gangsta Granny, Mr Stink and Ratburger.
Walliams rose to prominence through Little Britain before becoming a judge on Britain’s Got Talent and one of the UK’s most successful children’s authors. He has strongly denied any wrongdoing.
