David Walliams

HarperCollins announced that it would no longer publish new titles by Walliams following allegations that he had behaved inappropriately towards young female employees. Press reports stated that an employee who had raised concerns had reportedly received a financial settlement.

State of the evidence

Allegations

Following the controversy over his recorded remarks, Walliams did not return as a judge on Britain's Got Talent, where he had served since 2012.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Walliams sued Fremantle for misuse of private information and breaches of data protection following the leak of his conversations. Fremantle apologised, and the parties announced an out-of-court settlement.

State of the evidence

Settlement

Attribution

Protagonist is the complainant

A transcript of conversations during recording breaks revealed that Walliams had made insulting and sexually explicit remarks about Britain's Got Talent contestants. He apologised for the comments.

State of the evidence

Admitted by the person

Attribution

Directly implicated

HarperCollins announced that a story in The World's Worst Children about a Chinese boy named Brian Wong would be replaced in future editions following criticism of puns and stereotypes targeting East Asian people.

State of the evidence

Documented

BBC iPlayer, Netflix and BritBox removed Little Britain, while Come Fly With Me was also withdrawn from streaming platforms amid renewed scrutiny of racial portrayals and blackface.

State of the evidence

Documented

Walliams and Matt Lucas issued public apologies, stating that they regretted portraying characters of other races and that it was wrong.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Walliams was criticised for hosting the men-only Presidents Club charity dinner for a third year after allegations emerged of widespread sexual harassment of hostesses. Several bookshops temporarily removed his books.

State of the evidence

Documented

Alongside Matt Lucas, Walliams portrayed several characters of other ethnic backgrounds using racial make-up in Little Britain and Come Fly With Me. These sketches progressively became emblematic of criticism directed at racial humour of the 2000s.

State of the evidence

Documented