It’s time for Jonathan Ross to talk

Résumé détaillé

Poppy Jay: If he speaks openly about Brand and Walliams in public it might challenge the silence that's protected powerful men for so long

Another day, another high-profile male television star faces accusations of abusing women.

Following the conviction of Russell Brand last week, David Walliams has now been accused of grooming and sexually exploiting girls as young as 15. He strongly denies the allegations, including claims that he abused his celebrity status to exploit teenagers and young women.Walliams tried to prevent The Guardian and ITN from publishing their investigation, but the High Court denied his injunction. Yet again, I find myself asking why it so often takes an enormous journalistic investigation, mainly driven by women, to bring allegations about powerful men into public view.

These stories don’t emerge in a vacuum. For decades, British entertainment has treated the sexual exploits of famous men as something to celebrate, exaggerate and laugh about. The more outrageous the behaviour, the bigger the personality. The bigger the personality, the more valuable the talent.

And if you want to understand just how normalised that culture became, consider a joke delivered by Jonathan Ross at an awards ceremony in 2004. “The comedy awards is 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.”

It is evidence of a culture in which the sexualisation of teenage girls could be packaged as comedy, and I can’t help wonder why the age was so specific. Was there something about Walliams’ reputation that made a room full of industry insiders laugh because it had a seed of truth in it?Clips have resurfaced this week of Ross on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year in 2007, too. In it, he swaps seats with his teammate, a 22-year-old Lily Allen, to “protect” her from nearby Noel Fielding and Russell Brand, who are making jokes about rapists.

I grew up watching Jonathan Ross. The chat shows, the television appearances, the adverts, his “cheeky” persona, the man who seemed to know everybody famous in the 90s.

Anyone who remembers British…

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