From a comedy superstar to seeing his best-selling books dropped and a theme park named after him closed, David Walliams has courted controversy and faced accusations throughout his career.
The Surrey schoolboy bullied for being effeminate discovered an outlet in comedy, often laced with cruelty, which thrust him into a spotlight he both craved but never appeared at ease with.
Walliams has today been accused of using his status to prey on teenage girls and young women for sexual purposes – allegations he denies, and that he sought to suppress through the Courts.
But he has left a trail of what some considered offensive and shocking behaviour throughout his career, which contributed to him being dropped by his publishers and losing a prime-time TV show gig.
World of Walliams shut down
Earlier this month, Alton Towers announced that its World of David Walliams attraction would be permanently closed.
The exhibit, which included a Gangsta Granny ride, themed shops and food outlets, had opened in 2021. Operators Merlin Entertainment said the decision was taken after its regular end-of-season review of its activities.
Dropped by HarperCollins
The UK’s biggest-selling author since JK Rowling, shifting more than £100m worth of children’s books, Walliams was abruptly dropped by publishers HarperCollins in December 2025.
It followed an internal investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour and harassment towards junior female staff members.
It was reported that some junior staff were kept away from Walliams, while others were advised to work in pairs when meeting him.
Walliams denied the allegations and his spokesperson said he had not been given an opportunity to answer questions in the internal investigation.
Even at the peak of his popularity, Walliams’ novels – influenced by Roald Dahl’s characters – prompted controversy.
He was accused of racial stereotyping in some of the stories. In 2021, HarperCollins announced that it would be removing a story about a Chinese boy called Brian Wong “who is never ever wrong” from future editions of a short story collection.
BBC cuts ties – and ‘Nazi salute’
In December 2025, the BBC, which had previously turned Walliams’ Gangsta Granny novel into a Christmas special, said it had no future projects directly involving the performer.
But the BBC went ahead with Walliams’ appearance in a festive edition of panel show Would I Lie To You? as well as other pre-recorded appearances.
Just months before, Walliams had been criticised after appearing to make two Nazi salutes during a recording of Would I Lie To You?.
Those scenes were described as “completely unacceptable” by the BBC and not broadcast. Walliams did not respond to requests to comment on the incident.
BGT hot-mic scandal
Audio leaked in 2022 revealed that Walliams had made sexually explicit and derogatory remarks about a contestant on Britain’s Got Talent at an audition show at the London Palladium two years earlier.
A “hot mic” recorded the TV judge referring to one contestant as a “c***” and saying of another: “She thinks you want to f*** her, but you don’t.”
Walliams apologised for the “disrespectful” comments made in “private conversations”, but lost his role on the ITV show.
However Walliams then took on producers Fremantle, suing the company for £1m in lost earnings over the leak of “private information”.
The case was settled out of court. Walliams received an apology for the breach in what Fremantle called an “amicable solution.”
Court filings showing that Walliams had experienced depression and “suicidal thoughts” as a result of the incident.
Star of scandal-hit Presidents Club dinner
For three years in a row, Walliams was the guest host at the Presidents Club fundraising dinner in London. The event was widely condemned after the Financial Times published allegations about wide-scale groping and sexual harassment of hostesses employed at the men-only event.
Walliams was not accused of participating in any misconduct. However he apologised after the scandal broke, and denied any knowledge of sexual harassment at the event during his three years as compère. He said he left the event immediately after his presenting duties.
In 2018, Walliams also withdrew his lot at the Presidents Club charity auction, offering the chance to name a character in his next children’s book.
Walliams was to personally present the book to the winning bidder’s family over afternoon tea.
Some independent bookshops removed Walliams’ books from sale over his planned involvement.
Little Britain apology over ‘blackface’
Along with screen partner Matt Lucas, Walliams became a household name through the BBC sketch show Little Britain, which ran from 2003 to 2008.
At the time, the show was criticised for its portrayal of disabled characters and use of homophobic and racist tropes in characters including an obese Caribbean woman called Desiree DeVere, portrayed in blackface, and a “portly Thai bride” called Ting Tong.
But in 2020, Little Britain and another Walliams and Lucas show, Come Fly With Me, were dropped by Netflix, Britbox, Now TV and BBC iPlayer because of their use of blackface and their portrayal of black, disabled and gay people.
Walliams issued an apology for using blackface to play some of the characters.
Sex offender sketch
A live Little Britain tour in 2006 and 2007 caused controversy with an audience participation segment in which Walliams, playing a sex offender and children’s entertainer, chose men from the audience – some as young as 16 – to play a game called hide the sausage.
In the act, he would pull down their trousers and sometimes underpants, wrestle them to the ground and simulate anal sex.
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