David Walliams Denies Allegations as Publisher and Booksellers Pull His Books
A joint investigation by the Guardian and ITV News has alleged that the children's author David Walliams used his position to pursue young women and girls for sex, including girls as young as 15. The Guardian reported the allegations, and Walliams denies them. The allegations have prompted publishers and booksellers to stop selling his work.
Walliams is one of Britain's best-known writers of children's fiction, and his titles have made more than £153m since 2008, according to the same reporting. His publisher, HarperCollins, stopped publishing new Walliams books last December and in September dropped his entire backlist, meaning all of his earlier titles were removed from its catalogue.
Other retailers have made their own decisions. The Works has removed all David Walliams titles from sale. TG Jones confirmed that it no longer sells his books in store or online. Waterstones said it was talking to HarperCollins about returning the small number of Walliams copies still on shelves in a few of its shops.
Several independent bookshops had stopped stocking him well before the allegations were reported. Helen Tamblyn-Saville, owner of Wonderland Bookshop in Retford, Nottinghamshire, stopped stocking his books in 2020. Griffin Books in Penarth, Wales, dropped them about 18 months before November 2026. The Chicken and Frog bookshop in Brentwood, Essex, has not stocked him for a decade, and Pickled Pepper Books in north London chose not to stock his books at least five years ago.
Sales data show the books were still selling until recently. According to NielsenIQ BookData figures reported by The Bookseller, retailers sold 7,497 Walliams books over the past four weeks, worth £48,400. Almost 108,000 copies have sold so far in 2026, worth more than £702,000.
