David Walliams has been dropped by his publisher over allegations that he “harassed” female members of staff.
Walliams, 54, was accused of inappropriate behaviour towards junior employees, according to The Telegraph.
The publisher Harper Collins, which is owned by News Corporation, the ultimate parent company of The Times, was said to have paid one individual a five-figure sum before they left the business.
Walliams has denied the allegations.
Walliams’s departure comes after the exit of Harper Collins’s chief executive, Charlie Redmayne, in October. He was replaced by the interim chief, Kate Elton. Redmayne’s departure was not related to that of Walliams.
A Harper Collins spokesperson confirmed the exit of its leading children’s author.
“After careful consideration, and under the leadership of its new CEO, HarperCollins UK has decided not to publish any new titles by David Walliams,” they said.
“The author is aware of this decision. HarperCollins takes employee wellbeing extremely seriously and has processes in place for reporting and investigating concerns. To respect the privacy of individuals we do not comment on internal matters.”
Walliams is a hugely successful author whose books, including Billionaire Boy, Gangsta Granny and The Boy in the Dress, have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide and been translated into 55 languages.
Staff at HarperCollins were reportedly interviewed after an investigation was launched in response to a complaint brought last year by a junior staff member about Walliams’s behaviour.
According to the Telegraph, they were told to work in pairs when meeting Walliams and advised against visiting his house. After the investigation ended in 2024, steps were said to have been taken to ensure that the author and some staff were kept apart.
On Friday Walliams issued a statement through his agent: “David has never been informed of any allegations raised against him by Harper Collins. He was not party to any investigation or given any opportunity to answer questions. David strongly denies that he has behaved inappropriately and is taking legal advice.”
It is not the first time that Walliams has been embroiled in controversy over inappropriate behaviour.
In 2022 he was caught making “disrespectful comments” about auditioning contestants during breaks in filming Britain’s Got Talent in January 2020 at the London Palladium.
A leaked transcript revealed that he had referred to one contestant as a “c***” and said “she thinks you want to f*** her, but you don’t” about another. The remarks were leaked to The Guardian.
At the time, Walliams said that he wanted to apologise for the “disrespectful comments” and that they were part of a private conversation which was “never intended to be shared”. After this he left his role on the TV programme.
Fremantle, the talent show’s producer, later apologised and reached an “amicable resolution” with Walliams after he sued the company for misuse of private information and breaching data law.
In June The Times revealed that Walliams gave two Nazi salutes during a recording of BBC1’s Would I Lie to You? Christmas special, shocking his fellow panel members and audience members.
Rob Brydon, the host, reprimanded Walliams after he gave a salute during a story being told by Walliams’s teammate, the Call the Midwife actress Helen George.
Brydon reminded Walliams that the show went out before the watershed but he went on to made the gesture a second time, embellishing it with a sexual twist.
TV insiders predicted that the festive episode, which also features Jools Holland and Swarzy Shire, will be dropped from the Boxing Day schedule.
Pressure is also building on the BBC to drop Little Britain from BBC iPlayer. The comedy sketch show, created by Walliams and Matt Lucas, which ran on the BBC for three series from 2003, is currently available via the on-demand service.