Friends are backing away, his books are binned and shows scrubbed – the downfall of David Walliams

Detailed summary

A raft of serious allegations have been made against the Little Britain star despite his efforts to keep them under wraps. This is how it all unfolded.

British broadcaster and TV personality Jonathan Ross has distanced himself from and said he is horrified by allegations that have surfaced against comedian and children’s author David Walliams this week, just days after comedian Russell Brand’s rape conviction.

Walliams is accused of grooming teenage fans, the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl, as well as harassing young female colleagues, according to a three-year joint investigation by The Guardian and ITV News published on Wednesday (AEDT). He has vigorously denied the allegations.

“I am as horrified by the revelations about David Walliams and the crimes of Russell Brand as the rest of the nation,” Ross said in a statement to The Guardian.

Following publication of the allegations, Ross has been criticised over a joke he made at the 2004 British Comedy Awards about Walliams going home with a 15-year-old.

“This joke was submitted to me by the Comedy Awards scriptwriting team, and I believed that the punchline was a reference to the fact he had publicly dated younger women, exaggerated for comic effect,” the statement said.

Ross said that had he “any reason to suspect that it might be referring to actual events” he would have refused to perform the joke and ended his relationship with Walliams.

Hours after the allegations emerged, the ABC, Seven Network and Australian streamer Stan* had scrubbed the 55-year-old Order of the British Empire recipient’s shows from their platforms.

Australian bookshop chain Dymocks’ chief executive David Allen confirmed that on Wednesday all stores had been told to immediately stop sales of, and remove from shelves, all of Walliams’ books and any related merchandise.

The allegations were initially blocked from publication after Walliams sought a suppression order in the British high court, his lawyers arguing that making the allegations public could lead to Walliams taking his own life.

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