David Walliams Named at Centre of Sexual Misconduct Allegations

David Walliams has been named as the UK celebrity at the heart of allegations involving exploitative sexual activity with girls and young women, Deadline reported on 10 November 2026.

The naming follows a joint investigation by ITV News and The Guardian. The reporters spoke with more than 100 people, including Walliams' friends, colleagues, former partners and relatives. Women accuse him of using his celebrity to prey on women as young as 15.

Some of the women say he made contact through his work, including on Britain's Got Talent, the television talent show. He served as a judge on the programme for a decade, alongside Simon Cowell. He left the show after comments he made about contestants were leaked to The Guardian in 2022.

Walliams has denied all the allegations against him. "I am not a sexual predator," he said. "I have not broken the law."

Before the investigation was published, Walliams tried to stop it. He argued that it could lead to his suicide. Last week, he lost his bid for an injunction, which is a court order that would have blocked publication.

The fallout has already reached his publishing and representation. HarperCollins, his publisher, dropped him as an author after accusations about his behaviour were published in The Daily Telegraph. It also halted publication of his back catalogue, meaning his existing books will no longer be printed or sold through the publisher. The talent agency YMU is no longer actively representing him, and his profile has been taken off its website.

For anyone who grew up with his books or watched him on television, these are serious claims made by named and unnamed women, and they are allegations. Walliams disputes them. The women's accounts are now in the public record, and the publishing and agency decisions show how quickly the industries around a public figure can move once a story like this breaks.