Nov. 13 (UPI) — London’s Metropolitan Police said they have begun an investigation into popular comedian and former Britain’s Got Talent host David Walliams on allegations of sexual misconduct.
Walliams, 55, was the subject of an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News in which they interviewed women who said they were groomed by Walliams and that he used his celebrity to lure them as teens into his home. Some as young as 15 allegedly started getting calls from Walliams, an adult at the time.
The Met said in a statement that the allegations it’s investigating are separate from those reported by the news.
“In recent days, the Met has received a number of allegations of non-recent serious sexual offences involving a man now in his 50s,” the statement said.
The Met added, “as part of their investigation, detectives are also proactively reviewing that reporting to establish whether there is any evidence of offenses.”
“We would encourage anyone who has been the victim of a sexual offense to come forward and speak to us, no matter when it happened,” said Detective Superintendent Mike Cagney, whose team is leading the investigation. “We know reporting allegations of this nature can be daunting, but specialist officers are on hand to provide support, answer questions and guide you through the process.”
Walliams denies all allegations made against him.
He sent a letter to the journalists writing the report for The Guardian and ITV after he tried to block their reporting in court but failed.
“Looking back, I realize that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with. I realize I did not always take people’s feelings properly into account. That is something I regret. And whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely, and it is something that I never did.”
He added: “I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.”
Walliams created and starred in the hit British comedy Little Britain and later became a judge on Britain’s Got Talent. He has sold more than 50 million copies of multiple children’s books.
In September, his publisher HarperCollins said it would no longer print his books. It didn’t give a reason. Walliams left BGT in 2022 after leaked documents revealed disparaging comments he made about contestants.
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