Updated

Updated · Deadline · Nov 10

BBC Pulls Little Britain From iPlayer as David Walliams Denies Allegations Involving Girls as Young as 15

Updated

Updated · Deadline · Nov 10

BBC Pulls Little Britain From iPlayer as David Walliams Denies Allegations Involving Girls as Young as 15

Q: Did BBC executives know about David Walliams' alleged behavior before the recent media investigation forced them to remove his shows?

There is no public evidence so far that BBC executives knew of the specific allegations before the Guardian and ITV News investigation was published. The BBC’s public position is that it began removing David Walliams-related programmes after the allegations emerged and while it conducts a review. Its statement describes the claims as “serious allegations” and says it is now “looking carefully” at all material involving him. That suggests a reactive response to the reporting, not an admission of prior knowledge. The available reporting provided here does not show any whistleblower complaint to the BBC, any internal BBC warning about Walliams’ alleged conduct, or any indication that BBC management had been told of the accusations earlier and failed to act. By contrast, the sourced material does mention concerns and alleged behaviour in other settings, including Britain’s Got Talent and HarperCollins, but even there the public record is mixed: Fremantle, the BGT producer, said no complaint was made to it during his time on the show. What can be said is that the allegations concern conduct dating back to the Little Britain era, which raises broader questions about what people in the industry may have known informally. But based on the material now in the public domain, there is no verified evidence that BBC executives had prior confirmed knowledge of the alleged behaviour and ignored it. At this stage, the removals appear to have been triggered by the media investigation.

3 articles · Updated · Deadline · Nov 10

Little Britain and other David Walliams programs were being removed from BBC iPlayer on Tuesday as the broadcaster reviewed all content featuring or written by him after new allegations surfaced.
The BBC called the claims serious and said the takedowns would continue while it examines material across its platforms; episodes of Gangsta Granny adaptations and Walliams’ Who Do You Think You Are? appearance were also pulled.
The Guardian and ITV News published allegations that Walliams used his celebrity to pursue girls and young women for sexual purposes, including one woman who said she met him at 15 and another who was 18.
Walliams denied being a sexual predator or breaking the law, said he regretted being thoughtless in past casual relationships, and his lawyers disclosed he had made two suicide attempts during efforts to block publication.
The move deepens scrutiny of Little Britain, whose blackface scenes were already cut after Black Lives Matter criticism and which is no longer available on Netflix.