Jonathan Ross’ weasel words on David Walliams aren’t enough

‘And like most 15-year-olds, it’s drunk, it’s unpredictable, and it’s probably going home with David Walliams’.

Presenter Jonathan Ross stood on stage at the British Comedy Awards in 2004, and made this joke about comedian David Walliams. The camera panned to Walliams, who grinned and put up two fingers in response. 

The crowd around him laughed loudly.

Next to Walliams, his comedy co-star Matt Lucas smiled and behind him, Angus Deayton looked on. Next to him, a surprised Sarah Alexander stared at Walliams, as he chuckled.

But no one bothered to ask why Jonathan Ross just made that joke – and his own statement of regret this week doesn’t do nearly enough. 

Now, more than 20 years on, Walliams has been accused with allegations of assault – and astonishingly, one victim has claimed he groomed her from as young as 15.

Yesterday, ITV and The Guardian published a joint investigation into Walliams, which claims he has harassed women in the workplace, and his fans, for over a decade – he denies the allegations. 

Today, Ross has released a statement saying he was ‘horrified’ about Walliams, and the crimes of rapist Russell Brand, while maintaining he was ‘genuinely unaware’ of the Little Britain star’s alleged conduct.

Ross also claimed that the joke he made at the awards were ‘written by the script writing team’, not by him.

It’s a bad, almost insulting excuse. 

Whether rumours about Walliams’ preference or alleged criminal behaviour had reached Ross or not, there’s never any excuse for joking about sexually assaulting underage girls. 

It adds to a broader question about why these men aren’t questioning the behaviour of their friends and colleagues. 

Allegations about Walliams were an open secret in the publishing and TV industries, and whether Ross had heard them in advance of his 2004 ‘joke’, the fact it was written should have given him pause. 

Walliams denies any criminal behaviour, but entertainment in general has had more than its fair share of scandal, and that should be cause for Ross to have more introspection than his half-hearted statement suggests.

Just last week, Russell Brand has been convicted of rape and assault against women, with many more allegations being investigated.

And after Brand was sentenced, a prank call made by the comedian and Ross to actor Andrew Sachs on a BBC radio show in 2008 resurfaced. 

On the show, Ross yelled ‘he f****ed your granddaughter’ into Sachs’ answering machine.

The duo were suspended and the BBC issued an apology, but the damage was done.

Both men had harassed a man on air, and by extension his granddaughter, who had her sexual history pored over by sleazy men. 

It’s clear that there is, and was, a cultural problem here. 

But many of the conversations I’ve had around these horrific cases are not just why these men in power believe they can do what they want, expecting no consequence – but how those around them could let them get away with it.

Like Jonathan Ross – I understand that he claims to not know about Walliam’s behaviour, but I can’t for the life of me understand why he didn’t question that joke. 

I know I would pause, ask the writers what they meant, and whatever their response, refuse to say it.

I would also question Walliams on the joke – or at least pay more attention to what he was doing to elicit such an insidious gag.

There have been too many times to count where I’ve been in a situation where a man has done or said something inappropriate and no one has spoken up. If anyone has, it has been the women of the group.

We have one epidemic of male harassment, and another of male silence. 

Rarely have I experienced a man stand up to another man – if confronted, they either feign ignorance, or claim ‘it’s just a joke’.

I was sexually harassed by my boss when I was a teenager, and when I found out that he had been taken to HR for assault on another young co-worker, it was revealed as a ‘known issue’. 

But no one did anything about it.

The men I worked with said and did nothing – the women however, all protected each other. 

This is a pattern.

So, I guess there’s no surprise that Jonathan Ross made that joke at the 2004 British Comedy Awards. It seems like men like to joke about harming other women, hoping for no consequences.

But they are now all being held to account.

Powerful men are being arrested, charged and sent to jail.

But one thing that we aren’t seeing is men, like Jonathan Ross, standing up to, or even gently questioning, the men in their industry. 

They need to do better.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

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