Hollywood Icon Faces Horrific Sex Crime Charges

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A joint investigation has named veteran comedian David Walliams as a man accused of preying on teenage girls as young as 15, one day after fellow British entertainer Russell Brand was sentenced to prison.

Story Snapshot

ITV News and The Guardian spent three years investigating allegations against David Walliams before publishing their findings.
Walliams lost a High Court bid to block publication and keep his identity hidden behind an anonymous injunction.
One allegation claims Walliams groomed and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old girl at his London home.
Walliams denies being a “sexual predator” but admits to regret over some “casual” relationships.

A Three-Year Investigation Comes to Light

ITV News and The Guardian jointly worked for three years gathering accounts before going public. Their reporting says Walliams targeted teenage girls as young as 15 for sex, along with separate claims of inappropriate conduct toward young women. The investigation drew on multiple alleged victims and witnesses, giving the story weight beyond a single accuser’s word.

Among the specific claims is an account that Walliams groomed and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old schoolgirl inside his own London home. Lawyers representing the news organizations told the High Court the pattern involved an alleged “abuse of power and status” to contact young women, then push them toward what they called “inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities.”

The Failed Fight to Stay Anonymous

Before any of this reached the public, Walliams tried to stop it. He sued the two news organizations, seeking a permanent injunction to block publication entirely, partly on mental health grounds. A High Court judge rejected his request, ruling his claim for protection was not strong enough to override the public interest in the story. That ruling cleared the way for his name and the allegations to go public.

English law treats these fights carefully. Publishing on a matter of genuine public interest can serve as a complete legal defense, even when every detail isn’t proven in court. A failed injunction is not a verdict of guilt, but it does mean a judge decided the public had a right to know. That distinction matters, and it’s one courts have leaned on more since the #MeToo era reshaped how misconduct claims get litigated.

Walliams Responds, Denies Predatory Conduct

Walliams did not stay silent once his name became public. He issued a statement saying he behaved thoughtlessly in some casual relationships and regrets not always considering people’s feelings. But he firmly denied ever abusing a power imbalance, insisted he is “not a sexual predator,” and said he broke no laws.

That denial covers the core of the public accusation without addressing every specific claim line by line. Readers can weigh his words against the detailed allegations reported by two respected news organizations that spent three years building their case before publishing.

Harper Collins Had Already Moved

This wasn’t the first institution to act on concerns about Walliams. Harper Collins, the publisher behind his best-selling children’s books, quietly dropped him after junior female employees raised harassment complaints. A 2023 complaint triggered an internal investigation that concluded in 2024, months before the public allegations surfaced. A major publisher acting on its own internal review, well before any news investigation went public, adds real weight to the broader pattern being described.

Downing Street and the Underreporting Problem

The British government did not stay quiet either. A spokesperson for Downing Street called the allegations “deeply troubling”, a notable response given how rarely officials comment on private citizens’ unproven legal matters. Officials weighing in publicly often signals how seriously institutions are taking a story, even before any criminal charges exist.

Research on sexual misconduct reporting helps explain why investigations like this take years to surface. Studies estimate only 6 to 25 percent of sexual victimization incidents ever get formally reported, and a 2025 survey found formal reporting rates sitting near just 13 to 16 percent even in supportive institutional settings. Victims often stay silent for years before coming forward, especially when the accused holds fame, money, or workplace power over them.

David Walliams has been accused of preying on teenage girls as young as 15, claims he strongly denies. It’s after a three-year-long joint investigation between ITV News and the Guardian.

Allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour were put to the TV star and children’s author… pic.twitter.com/7puaut87yK

— ITV News (@itvnews) November 11, 2026

The timing lands hard. Walliams was named just one day after Russell Brand was sentenced following his conviction on rape and sexual assault charges, putting British entertainment’s reckoning with powerful men back in headlines twice in two days. Together, the cases suggest fame and industry access gave both men decades of cover before anyone outside their circles knew what was allegedly happening.