TV presenter Jonathan Ross said he was “as horrified by the revelations about David Walliams and Russell Brand’s crimes as the rest of the nation”, adding that he was “genuinely ignorant of their conduct” despite a joke about a 15-year-old “going home” with Walliams at the British Comedy Awards in 2004.
Walliams, one of Britain’s best-known television personalities and best-selling children’s authors, has been accused by several women of using his power and celebrity to sexually prey on young women and teenage girls.
The Guardian and ITV News published the allegations, which were the subject of a three-year joint investigation, after a court rejected a legal attempt by Walliams to prevent publication. Walliams, 55, denies any wrongdoing.
Ross said at the awards in 2004: “The comedy awards are 15 years old – 15 years old! And like most 15-year-olds, it’s drunk, it’s unpredictable and it’s probably going home with David Walliams.”
In a statement, Ross said: “I recognize how deeply shocking it is to revisit footage of a joke I delivered at the Comedy Awards in 2004, in which I made light of the idea of Walliams going home with a 15-year-old.
“This joke was submitted to me by the Comedy Awards writing team, and I thought the punchline was in reference to the fact that he publicly dated younger women, exaggerated for comedic effect. It’s also a tasteless joke that I wouldn’t dream of making today to anyone, but that’s beside the point.
“If I had reason to suspect that it might be referring to actual events, not only would I have refused to use it, but I would not have felt comfortable pursuing a personal or professional relationship with it. I also like to think that I would have acted on that knowledge.”
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said the allegations were “the latest in a long line of reported abuses of power”.
She promised to meet with senior figures in the media and entertainment industry to “draw a line in the sand”.
“A decade and a half after the Jimmy Savile revelations and ten years after the #MeToo movement, we must finally take meaningful action to end abuse and harassment in industries where power imbalances are huge and careers are built on connections and reputation,” she said.
Walliams was fired by his literary agency, Independent Talent Group, which said it was “deeply troubled by the allegations”, while Fremantle UK, the production company behind Britain’s Got Talent, said it was “disturbed and concerned” by the allegations. Walliams was a judge on the show from 2012 to 2022.
Sky has announced that it will no longer hold the license for Fing!, a film written by and starring Walliams, which was due to be released next year.
The BBC is removing some programmes, including Little Britain, while reviewing “all material presented and written by David Walliams on our platforms”, a spokesperson said.
Labor MP and former protection minister Jess Phillips said she believed it was important the law intervened to prevent allegations being silenced. She told Times Radio: “It would have been a terrible precedent, and any powerful man, in the public eye and outside, would have used this injunctive tactic in the future. »
Downing Street described the allegations as “deeply disturbing” and Walliams’ membership of the Labor Party was suspended.
Walliams remains in a psychiatric hospital. In a personal letter written to journalists at the Guardian and ITV News denying the allegations and detailing their impact on his mental health, he wrote: “Looking back, I realize that at times I behaved rashly towards other people with whom I had casual sex. And while an imbalance of power is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely and is something I have never done.”
He added: “I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago are now expressing their hurt or anger towards me.”
Walliams’ lawyers said he also denied allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior in the workplace.
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