The Metropolitan Police has opened an investigation into allegations of serious sexual offences involving comedian and children’s author David Walliams. Walliams, 55, denies the allegations and says he has not broken the law.
The force said it had received “a number of allegations of non-recent serious sexual offences involving a man now in his 50s”. Detective Superintendent Mike Cagney urged anyone affected to come forward.
The Met said the allegations were separate from claims reported earlier this week by ITV News and The Guardian, which followed a three-year investigation involving more than 100 people.
Those reports said several women had accused Walliams of sexual misconduct dating back as far as 2003. One woman alleged that he sexually assaulted her at his London home when she was 15, while others accused him of grooming them as teenagers or harassing young female colleagues.
Walliams denies allegations
In a letter to ITV and The Guardian, Walliams said: “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.”
He added: “I am not a sexual predator … I have not broken the law.”
The reports were published after Walliams lost a High Court bid to prevent the media organisations from naming him. Judge Matthew Nicklin said granting an injunction would have been “an exceptionally serious interference” with the media’s rights.
The BBC has removed some programmes involving Walliams, including all episodes of Little Britain, the sketch show that made him famous. His literary agency, Independent Talent Group, has also said it is “no longer representing him in any capacity”.
HarperCollins dropped Walliams as a client last year following accusations that he had harassed female staff, which he also denied.
Walliams became well known through Little Britain and Come Fly With Me, and later served as a judge on ITV’s Britain’s Got Talent. His children’s books include Mr Stink, Gangsta Granny and The Boy in the Dress.
