David Walliams has been dropped from Waterstones Children’s Book Festival following allegations of inappropriate behaviour.
The comedian, 54, was due to appear at the event in February, but organisers have confirmed to The Independent he will no longer be in attendance after he was dropped by publisher HarperCollins last week.
“David Walliams will no longer be appearing at our festival in Dundee,” a statement read.
Walliams has been accused of behaving inappropriately towards young women. A junior colleague is said to have complained about his conduct, leading to other staff members being interviewed.
Former employees who worked for the publishing company alleged to The Telegraph that they were advised to work in pairs when meeting with him and told not to visit his home.
The Little Britain star and former Britain’s Got Talent judge’s spokesperson said he “strongly denies” any claims and was not informed about or party to an investigation by HarperCollins.
Gangsta Granny author Walliams, one of the UK’s most established and successful award-winning children’s authors, was booked for the Waterstones literary festival after its inaugural edition earlier this year.
The event is described as “a family-friendly celebration of stories and illustration, highlighting the joys of reading, writing, and drawing”.
Following news that Walliams had been dropped by HarperCollins, the BBC faced calls to pull an episode of the game show Would I Lie to You? that the comedian recorded earlier this year.
A BBC spokesperson told The Independent: “While we’re not making any changes to the festive schedules, we have no future projects directly involving David Walliams.”
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Walliams’s appearance on the special episode made headlines earlier this year, after it emerged that he had given two Nazi salutes during the recording.
The comedian and children’s author was said to have shocked host Rob Brydon and fellow celebrity panellists, including Jools Holland and Helen George, with the gesture.
At the time, the BBC apologised over the incident and the scene was deleted from the episode.
Walliams, who has sold an estimated 60 million books worldwide, rose to fame more than 20 years ago through the comedy series Little Britain, alongside Matt Lucas. The show was hugely popular at the time but has come under fire in recent years over use of Blackface in the series and claims it was sexist, classist and homophobic.
In 2022, Walliams faced criticism after he was caught making obscene comments about contestants on Britain’s Got Talent.
A leaked transcript revealed that he called one auditioning contestant a “c***” and said of another: “She thinks you want to f*** her, but you don’t.”
Walliams subsequently left his role on the show, and apologised for the “disrespectful comments”, saying they were part of a private conversation that was “never intended to be shared”.
He sued FremantleMedia, the production company that makes BGT, for the leaking of his private remarks. The matter was settled in November 2023.
