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Original poster

David Walliams dropped by publisher

723 replies

azuleja · 19/12/2025 17:03

Over inappropriate behaviour towards women. Anyone surprised?

OP posts:
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13
ThoseWeirdStones · 21/12/2025 01:33

Who the F are we talking about? David Tennant? Not sure why MN allow this to continue if it can't be said out loud. All it does is promote more speculation and potentially inappropriate suspicion.

RavelsDancer · 21/12/2025 01:41

Dawnb19 · 20/12/2025 18:18

I think a lot of celebs acted differently 10 years or so ago. This is now seen as creepy, sleezy or bullying. It's not just him, look at celebritiy chefs, presenters or pop stars back in the 90s/00s. I was watching the video about girl bands and boy bands on the BBC and it's horrible the way they acted. The questions they were asked and the answers they gave. Plus, the way they constantly feel themselves while singing. Peter Audre still does it. He played at a local gig a few years ago that I took my children to. 🤮

Over the last 20 years the way we look at things have changed. If we were to look at all our favourite celebrities there will be something they said or did that we dont like. God, it wasn't too long ago we had 16 year old page 3 modules.

Anyway I always found him sleezy. The way he used to jump on Simon cowel on Britain's got talent. 🤮

I was watching an old episode of Big Fat Quiz the other day (2007-ish), and there was a moment when DW, Noel Fielding and Russell Brand were all in the frame. So two of these three men have made rape jokes, one is accused of SA and one is being dropped right now. This is all so horrible, and it just makes me feel cold.

Carla786 · 21/12/2025 01:47

Rosedreaming · 21/12/2025 00:57

Walliams writes his own books, no ghostwriter and he doesn't take well to being edited so you can trust that the bad stereotyping, racism, sexism and classism in the books are all his own work.

Baddiel also writes his own books. So does David o Doherty. Pretty much every sportsperson, chef, reality star or general celebrity has a ghost writer but the comedians are more likely to do their own work.

Some celebrities genuinely feel like they wrote their own books when essentially all they've done is told their ghostwriter they want a character based on them (little girl who loves horses, ballet, etc) and nodded along to a few of the plot ideas put to them.

The thing I haven't seen about Walliams yet is that his PR essentially acted as security on his school visits - but security for the girls at the school, not for him. Became a thing after an incident at one school during an award event. Most of the reports about him, which go back years, are from young women from his publisher's PR department and are both about what they've had to deal with from him and how he's behaved with others while they were working with him. Plenty of cases of him sending inappropriate messages to girls on social media too.

( Meanwhile I may as well say that the Scottish DT being mentioned on this thread despite afaik not being someone anyone has referred to is very lovely.and extremely gentle and respectful in person, haven't heard anyone who has worked with him have a bad word to say. Just my personal experience.)

Anyway there is a lot to come out on Walliams but a number of people have taken payments for NDAs so it will be interesting to see what actually emerges. The author Kiran Milwood Hargraves once posted a Twitter thread with all the stories she had heard (first hand) about Walliams and nothing came of it at the time. He and the Murdoch empire have been incredibly good at silencing people for a very long time. I hope this is the end of the run for him with this behaviour.

Edited

I thought David Baddiel did. Hope nothing comes out about him, I like him & Jews Don't Count isn't an excellent work on left wing enabling of anti Semitism.

OneMintWasp · 21/12/2025 01:50

PinkPanther57 · 20/12/2025 20:09

On short skirts - told this by many even to late 80s in workplace.

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Yes I was told this by a doctor in his 50s, our clinical director in the NHS. We were being audited and (as a 24 year old who got the job due postgraduate qualifications and very relevant experience) I was pulled to the side and told the rest of the team (all men) thought it might help our case if I wore something skimpy. THIS WAS 2009!!!!

Carla786 · 21/12/2025 01:51

ProfDrILikeDungs · 19/12/2025 18:10

Yes he is the creepiest creepy creep that ever creeped.

He doesn't just make my skin crawl, he gives me a whole body crawl. His books were on the shelf in the bookshop where I worked -- I didn't have a say on that, but tried. They were horrific, like a bully's version of Dahl.

<shudder>

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He himself has claimed Billionaire Boy was based on his own experiences of bullying at school. If so, it doesn't seem to have impacted his later behaviour.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/london-life/david-walliams-piers-morgan-he-comes-between-farts-and-rats-8121403.html&ved=2ahUKEwjuquKTyM2RAxV7WEEAHVN9N5wQFnoECB4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0NDGuShAmxcNspfwILcqdF

Dahl also was bullied & went through his own trajectory of turning into a bully, but while his books are anarchic and arguably cross some lines, they don't seem ultimately cruel, as well as being better written by far.

https://www.google.com/url?opi=89978449&rct=j&sa=t&source=web&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.standard.co.uk%2Flifestyle%2Flondon-life%2Fdavid-walliams-piers-morgan-he-comes-between-farts-and-rats-8121403.html&usg=AOvVaw0NDGuShAmxcNspfwILcqdF&ved=2ahUKEwjuquKTyM2RAxV7WEEAHVN9N5wQFnoECB4QAQ

Carla786 · 21/12/2025 02:07

Mropalsmusic · 20/12/2025 12:20

Yeah when i was online dating I met a couple of guys in their 40s who I suspected were gay and looking for a woman to have their children.

I didn’t even get the impression they came from families where their sexuality or being with a man wouldn’t be accepted, it’s just that they wanted to have a child.

It would have destroyed me if I had got with men like that. It’s such a cruel thing to do and I’m just glad I didn’t fall for it.

People are always so quick to trot out the excuses for these men and blame “society” but in many cases it’s just pure selfishness. I have an uncle who I suspect is gay and he lives in a society/country that doesn’t accept homosexuality.

He has been single his whole life, and he’s now 80. I have massive respect for him because I know a lot of his female friends and women in his church wanted to marry him in his younger days. He could have easily done that for an “easy” life.

I have my personal issues with him , but one thing I have always said is he’s not a misogynist and actually speaks out against men like that and has respect for his female friends and relatives which is probably why he didn’t just see women as tools to use to make himself look more societally acceptable.

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I was on a thread here once where a woman was having a crisis after her husband was revealed he was on the down-low. She'd found a since banned Reddit sub for down-low men and was now suspecting all men.

I don't think it's that many but I think it's definitely a lot more than you'd think who are bi and sadly more than you'd think who are down-low.

Carla786 · 21/12/2025 02:14

Americano75 · 20/12/2025 11:35

If you read his adult stories his misogyny was pretty disgusting too. My Uncle Oswald, The Great Switcheroo etc. Treated his wife like shit, had an affair with her friend who he later married.

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Yep the Great Switcheroo is so weird. Spoiler : 2 husbands agree to switch places for a night they're attracted to each other's wives. Both wives would never cheat (so, rape by deception). The twist is that the narrator discovers he's a lot worse at sex than he'd predicted and his wife tells him the next morning that she'd hated sex until the night before.

Some try to defend Dahl by arguing that a lot of his stories actually seem sympathetic to the woman in the relationship, more so than the man. Some I would agree, but The Great Switcheroo is frankly icky at best, even if the husbands are ultimately come out of it badly. I doesn't help it was written for Playboy...🤮

PurpleSky300 · 21/12/2025 02:17

Years ago, I read about this Popbitch story on him and it made me laugh out loud. Supposedly, he was irritating the panellists on "8 out of 10 Cats" and went and "play-slapped" Sean Lock on the shoulder to get his attention. Sean said "Don't f-ing touch me, you pink minstrel."

I hadn't heard that term before but it's the best description of David Walliams I've ever seen - a straight man who 'performs' offensive gay stereotypes and tries to present as gay, usually for manipulative reasons. The belief that he was/is LGBT masked his predatory behaviour with women and allowed him to hide in plain sight.

Carla786 · 21/12/2025 02:18

Checknotmymate · 19/12/2025 22:08

We've been gifted DW books and I put them straight out to charity as I'd heard how awfully women are portrayed.

I know Dahl isn't great on that front either but at least I could explain to DC that they were from a different time and at least Dahl has some great girl protagonists.

I'm not sure about Dahl. His adult stories are a different matter, but with the possible exception of The Witches, I'm not sure if women are portrayed worse. Mr Twit is awful, the landowner in Danny The Champion, some of the boys in Charlie & the Chocolate Factory.

And ofc as you said, Sophie, Matilda, Grandmother in The Witches etc are all great.

This sounds a bit psychoanalysing, but I think Dahl's childhood is important here. He was very close to his mother & 4 sisters, (father died when was young). Otoh he was mistreated by some women at boarding school (as well as men) and I think this dual attitude showed in his work.

Carla786 · 21/12/2025 02:27

RainbowZebraWarrior · 20/12/2025 12:48

Yup. I know a few onviously gay men who married women and had children, then left, proclaiming they couldn't live a lie any more. All the friends and family applaud said gay man for finally 'living his authentic life' meanwhile, the wife's life is totally fucked and nobody gives a shit about her, as long as he is finally living his authentic life, that's all that seems to matter.

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Obviously gay? Is it really obvious? I suppose when they initially married they might have behaved differently

Carla786 · 21/12/2025 02:40

ILoveLaLaLand · 20/12/2025 12:10

Another man using a woman as his beard.
There should be a law against this kind of exploitation and abuse of women.
They are the worst kind of misogynist.

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It is a terrible thing to do....😢

I don't think necessarily misogynist...is a lesbian who marries a man & pretends to like men necessarily misandrist? Straight Spouse Network has a large number of men doing it, and fewer women, however, men seem more likely to live a lie.

Giraffehaver · 21/12/2025 03:08

He's been dropped by the BBC too. Couldn't have happened to a slimier bloke

Carla786 · 21/12/2025 03:17

worcesterpear · 19/12/2025 17:47

I'm a bit surprised as I thought he was gay - wouldn't have been surprised if it was inappropriate behaviour towards boys though, I suppose.

His 'joke' about 17yo Harry Styles is certainly worrying!

<a class="break-all" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20230926204842/www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8871898/Channel-Four-criticised-over-David-Walliamss-disgusting-joke.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://web.archive.org/web/20230926204842/www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/8871898/Channel-Four-criticised-over-David-Walliamss-disgusting-joke.html

CalzoneOnLegs · 21/12/2025 05:13

he looks unwell in that photo

I would have liked to have read that, the predictable comments are readable though

CalzoneOnLegs · 21/12/2025 06:03

@BeanQuisine one if the Reddit threads has a free version of the article!

BeanQuisine · 21/12/2025 06:20

CalzoneOnLegs · 21/12/2025 06:03

@BeanQuisine one if the Reddit threads has a free version of the article!

Thanks, I've found it.

<a class="break-all" href="https://archive.md/2025.12.20-033239/www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-15400303/untouchable-David-Walliams-women-KATIE-HIND.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://archive.md/2025.12.20-033239/www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-15400303/untouchable-David-Walliams-women-KATIE-HIND.html

BeanQuisine · 21/12/2025 06:25

BeanQuisine · 21/12/2025 06:20

Thanks, I've found it.

<a class="break-all" href="https://archive.md/2025.12.20-033239/www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-15400303/untouchable-David-Walliams-women-KATIE-HIND.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://archive.md/2025.12.20-033239/www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-15400303/untouchable-David-Walliams-women-KATIE-HIND.html

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...must admit I thought there'd be more revelations than that. The article doesn't say much that's new.

CalzoneOnLegs · 21/12/2025 07:26

@BeanQuisine he is a danger, I think there is something very serious we aren’t being told. Is he single now

BeanQuisine · 21/12/2025 07:35

CalzoneOnLegs · 21/12/2025 07:26

@BeanQuisine he is a danger, I think there is something very serious we aren’t being told. Is he single now

He was only married for 5 years, to a Dutch model, Lara Stone. They divorced 10 years ago and he's been single since, as far as I know.

He does seem to be a predatory type, with many women being warned about him by their employers etc.

Empress13 · 21/12/2025 07:43

RavelsDancer · 21/12/2025 01:41

I was watching an old episode of Big Fat Quiz the other day (2007-ish), and there was a moment when DW, Noel Fielding and Russell Brand were all in the frame. So two of these three men have made rape jokes, one is accused of SA and one is being dropped right now. This is all so horrible, and it just makes me feel cold.

Show quote history

I’ve always thought DW was gay and the marriage to Lara was a sham. Probably used each other just to get pg. Funny how the press have suddenly brought up the fact he isn’t seeing his son this year why mention it? Lots of dads take it in turns but it was made into a thing this year. I’m guessing she knows what’s gone on. BTW whatever happened to that other sleaze ball Brand? Did he get prosecuted? I’m guessing there’s loads more to come out of the woodwork!

CalzoneOnLegs · 21/12/2025 07:44

@BeanQuisine the £5 million payout was news to me.

RavelsDancer · 21/12/2025 08:02

This reply has been withdrawn

This message has been withdrawn at the poster's request

ChrisMartinsKisskam · 21/12/2025 08:04

CautiousLurker2 · 21/12/2025 00:07

Think I know who this is - saw them in a BBC interview recently and they were shockingly inappropriate in their exchange with Naga… until then I never had a qualm. Now I shudder.

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Yes has a brother who is a plonker