David Walliams dropped by publisher

[azuleja]

Over inappropriate behaviour towards women. Anyone surprised?

She was 18 when they met and married and last I read she is still very fond of him, spends time with him, and credits him for giving her huge support at a time when she needed it. There are such thing as mutually beneficial relationships between people who are a couple of decades apart in age.

I mean yes, deeply problematic views. And you can definitely argue there’s a reading of The Witches as an anti-Semitic allegory. But it’s also absolutely captivating as a children’s story - I can still remember reading that book as a child - I laughed, I cried, I was absolutely terrified by it, I couldn’t put it down.

I think re-reading RD now the most pervasive troubling elements (from the perspective of what a child would absorb, rather than sub-texts) is the focus on physical appearance / obesity as grotesque and sometimes linking this to moral character (though this does also sometimes get subverted, it’s not as simply as fat, ugly characters are bad).

In my (limited) reading of DW it seems to lean in to the physically grotesque but in a way that’s more one-dimensional and lacking in moral focus, seems to often be punching-down and comes DECADES after Dahl so we can’t excuse it as being “of its time”. And critically, they are just not very good storytelling. It just feels like it’s picking up the bits that make RD’s works questionable today without the knockout storytelling which makes them enduring.

I could never stand Little Britain. Terrible programme. Just vile.

DS loves the wheel and we watched that episode and it was quite something the way Walliams absolutely HATED it when someone else got more attention than him. I was commenting on how petty and jealous it made him look. Add to that, he didn't get answers right and was firmly mid table - he was so pissed off. Which was great from my point of view. I forget who was on the episode but I think it was too women who do well every time and both beat him. I just thought he was just vindictive.

Awful man.

What I can't understand is who the hell bought his books?!

Is there anyone on MN to whom this is a revelation?

What's the comment about being nice to people on the way up? Well, I'm fairly sure Walliams is in for a bumpy landing on the way down.

Having said that, I'm sure he can continue his career with a life in Panto. It won't be the end for him unfortunately.

There 100% will be someone else to blame and a shit excuse to avoid taking responsibility.

Hmm charity work...makes you think of another predator doesn't it? 🤮

spill he beans!

She was definitely older than 15, and they're still good friends. I don't think that relationship was a problem. I dated someone who was 30 when I was 17, and while he certainly wasn't a normal bloke and I can see why he was dating someone much younger, he wasn't a creep either. We got on well.

@BelleEpoque27 are they still friends? They used to be seen with each other loads but now nothing.

This. They waited as long as possible before noticing he is an absolute toad, because they were making money from him. Maybe his sales had already slowed. That's my guess. Still: Hallellujah.

Rolf Harris was the only one that truly surprised me.

I always remember going into our local Waterstones and seeing a little boy looking sadly at the absolute WALL of books by him and saying in a really sad voice: Aren't there any books that aren't by David Walliams? He clearly loathed them. I bought Gangsta Granny when DC were small, got about two pages in and was stumbling to read it aloud as it was so badly written. Both DC said: 'Can we read something else? This is boring.' And they loved books. Never bought another by him. But we did end up reading a lot of classics as for a while he seemed to be the only one published.

How do you know this information, out of interest please?

What worries me is that he doesn;t even try to hide it. He is simply vile. And no one seems to care. He is an absolutely shit writer. So how come his books gained so much traction when other famous comedians - like Charlie Higson - who really can write, did okay but not stellar sales. Someone was really plugging him. Blocking other authors from getting shelf space. I can't help wondering if he had some good dirt on people very high up in publishing. It is a loathesome business.

‘There’s no virgin like the reformed tart’.

There's another one elderly now who will be a shock to many not in the know. He's been knighted is beloved by millions. I don't know if it will even come out when he's dead but friends daughter who once worked for the BBC said much is known inside the industry that is protected. By ITV too.

Like shark eyes. They had a horrible beady look to them.

I agree that I've always been amazed people willingly buy children these books. If DDs are even given one I'm not sorry to say it goes straight into the recycling. One more taken out of circulation.

I know exactly who you’re talking about and I don’t understand why he’s so protected but then I guess that goes for all the men who’ve been revealed as abusers over the years.

Any clues for who this person is?

Ooh I didn't think of that , I used to take any gifts of them to the charity shop

My children came across them at school though. Their class teacher chose the book to read in class

Is this a sitcom actor?

Another "David" by any chance? I know of 2 .

People need to stop applauding Harper Collins.

They were utterly complicit. For YEARS.

Their investigation wasn’t an investigation, it was backstage management of his behaviour. It was only when contacted by the press that they knew they had to act. Otherwise they’d have carried on reaping the money and putting their staff in the firing line.

I read Gangsta Granny to my reluctant reader DS. A chapter or two a night. When he was 9-10 I guess.

He sat through it so I thought he loved it. When we finished i suggested we read about DW and he said very politely 'Di you mind if we don't? It wasn't very good'.

FWIW he's 15 now and a voracious self-directed reader. Wants to do English lit at A-levels. So my fears when he was a serious book-refuser thankfully have been unfounded.

Not surprised, vile man. You have to question the intelligence of the celebs he’s been able to hoodwink all these years.