The BBC is still planning to air the controversial David Walliams Would I Lie To You Christmas special despite recent ‘inappropriate behaviour’ allegations.
The children’s author and comedian, 58, was dropped by his publisher, HarperCollins, after an investigation into accusations of ‘harassing’ junior female employees.
He ‘strongly denies’ the allegations and said he was not made aware of this investigation, with plans to ‘take legal advice’.
A statement provided to The Telegraph from HarperCollins about his removal said: ‘The author is aware of this decision. HarperCollins takes employee wellbeing extremely seriously and has processes in place for reporting and investigating concerns.’
The Telegraph investigation also claimed that one employee who raised concerns about the former Britain’s Got Talent judge was given a five-figure payout and subsequently left the company.
The prolific writer started his publishing career in 2008 and has since released over 40 children’s books, including bestsellers such as Gangsta Granny.
This is not the first controversy the Come Fly With Me star has been involved in during his career. Last year, he was filmed doing two Nazi salutes during a taping for the Would I Lie To You Christmas special.
The BBC apologised for his behaviour in front of a live audience, and it was confirmed that the offensive gestures ‘would not be broadcast under any circumstances’, meaning an edited version was aired during Christmas 2024.
On Boxing Day this year, the BBC plans to run a repeat of the David Walliams festive special at 7pm on BBC One.
In a statement provided to Metro, a BBC spokesperson said: ‘While we’re not making any changes to the festive schedules, we have no future projects directly involving David Walliams.’
Meanwhile, in 2022, the BGT judge was removed from his role on the show after leaked recordings showed him making offensive remarks about the contestants.
The leaked transcript, picked up on a hot mic, revealed Walliams called one auditioning contestant a ‘c**’ and said of another: ‘She thinks you want to f*** her, but you don’t’.
Afterwards, he publicly apologised for the ‘disrespectful comments’, saying he never intended for the private conversations to be shared.
He also reached a settlement with the production company Fremantle after suing them for misuse of private information and breaching data laws.
Elsewhere, his sketch comedy series with Matt Lucas, Little Britain, has faced mounting criticism over the years, with fans branding certain characters ‘explicitly racist’ and slamming the use of blackface.
Discussing cancel culture in 2024 after the Would I Lie To You debacle, he called it ‘exhausting’.
He told The Daily Telegraph at the time: ‘Things that are explosively funny are often on the edge, aren’t they?. [The issue] is complicated, but you just look at each joke as it comes really.
‘Obviously, if you were worried about every single thing you said or did might offend someone, that you wouldn’t be able to say or do anything on stage.
‘I kind of think people haven’t lost a sense of humour in the way that it’s often portrayed.’
Metro has reached out to the BBC for comment.
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