David Walliams loses bid to block reporting of allegations

The comedian and children’s author David Walliams has been identified after a London High Court judge refused his request to stop ITN and Guardian News and Media publishing allegations against him. Walliams denies wrongdoing.

The allegations, brought forward by multiple women, say he used his public profile to pursue young women and girls for sexual activity. The court heard that ITN and the Guardian had spoken to more than 100 people during a joint investigation, including 30 said to have first-hand accounts.

Walliams’s lawyers argued that publication could lead him to take his own life. His counsel told the court he had attempted suicide twice and had been hospitalized. A psychiatrist who assessed him said his mood disorder was treatable and that remaining in a secure hospital would be significantly safer if the allegations were published.

The judge rejected the injunction application on November 3. Counsel for the media organizations argued that responsibility for keeping Walliams safe lay with the hospital, and that blocking publication would threaten freedom of speech. Walliams did not appeal by the November 9 deadline.

The case follows a previous controversy involving allegations of harassment of female junior employees, after which publisher HarperCollins dropped Walliams. He has also apologized for remarks about contestants on Britain’s Got Talent, where he was a judge for a decade.