Television executives are facing the prospect of new legal requirements to protect girls from predatory entertainers after allegations involving David Walliams and Russell Brand.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will summon broadcasters to a showdown next week amid claims that allegations about Walliams’ alleged pursuit of young women, like those surrounding Brand, had become an “open secret” within the industry.
Both men are said to have wielded such influence, and generated so much revenue for broadcasters, that their alleged conduct went unchallenged.
The 55-year-old children’s author and television star has denied claims that he groomed schoolgirls, sexually assaulted a 15-year-old and repeatedly asked teenagers for sex. He has said he is “not a sexual predator”.
Ms Nandy has pledged to “draw a line in the sand” when she meets entertainment industry leaders, warning that legislation could follow if they fail to take action.
She said: “A decade and a half on from the revelations about Jimmy Savile, and ten years on from the MeToo movement, we must finally take meaningful steps to end abuse and harassment.”
Russell Brand and David Walliams at the British Comedy Awards in London in December 2006
Lisa Nandy will summon broadcasters next week amid claims that allegations about Walliams’ alleged pursuit of young women, like those involving Brand, were an “open secret” in the industry
Downing Street described the allegations concerning Walliams as “deeply troubling”, adding that there was “a pattern of behaviour that needs to change”.
Walliams, a former Britain’s Got Talent judge, allegedly used his celebrity status to draw young women to his dressing room and his £3.5million home in north London.
Several teenagers and young women made allegations of sexual misconduct during an investigation by The Guardian and ITV News.
Walliams allegedly threatened to take his own life if the reports were published, but was unable to obtain a court injunction preventing the Press from identifying him.
The comedian and author is understood to be receiving treatment in a psychiatric hospital, days after Brand was jailed for more than ten years for rape.
Chatshow host Jonathan Ross, who knew both men, apologised for a tasteless joke made at the 2004 comedy awards about a 15-year-old “probably going home” with Walliams.
Ross said he was “horrified by the revelations about David Walliams and the crimes of Russell Brand”.
He said he had previously been friendly with both men, adding: “During that period I was genuinely unaware of their conduct.”
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A photograph from 2003 shows Ross alongside Walliams and one of his accusers, Lilly Creightmore, who was 18 when Walliams invited her to stay at his home.
She told Newsnight: “One night I think he put his head in my lap and sort of said, ‘Are you sure you don’t want to come and sleep in my bed with me?’ I had an inner strength, like, ‘No’.”
Jonathan Ross, pictured yesterday, has apologised for a tasteless joke made at the 2004 comedy awards about a 15-year-old “probably going home” with Walliams
Comedian Lucy Beaumont, one of the whistleblowers involved in the investigation, said a young television worker told her that “his job was to take young girls to Walliams’ dressing room”.
She said the girls were over 16, but “were working-class girls and some had never been to London before”.
“I was worried these girls were young,” she said. “I tried to contact some of them to ask if they were all right.”
One girl was “in a really bad way”, she said, and Walliams’ lawyers had asked her to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to ensure her silence.
Ms Beaumont said the NDA, imposed on someone “who was groomed as a child”, prevented the woman from speaking to her family or a therapist.
Television agent Dermot McNamara said he raised concerns with “authorities and broadcasters” after a 16-year-old client was taken backstage at BGT and later invited to Walliams’ home, where “inappropriate behaviour” allegedly occurred.
He said he reported the incident, which allegedly happened about ten years ago, but no action followed.
Lou Teasdale, a former BGT make-up artist, claimed it was “standard protocol” for young girls to sign NDAs and hand over their phones before being left alone with famous men.
HarperCollins, which sold more than 60million copies of Walliams’ books, dropped him a year ago following claims that he harassed young female employees. He denies the allegations.
Walliams has denied all the claims. His lawyers said he had never groomed young women or had sex with underage girls.
ITV said Fremantle, the production company behind BGT, had confirmed “that no complaint has ever been made to them about David Walliams”. It added: “We are completely committed at ITV to creating an environment where everyone is treated with respect.”
Equalities minister Bridget Phillipson said the Government should restrict the use of NDAs and consider banning them altogether.
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