British television presenter Jonathan Ross has publicly stated that he is as horrified by the revelations concerning David Walliams and the crimes of Russell Brand as the rest of the nation. In a statement reported by The Guardian, Ross asserted that he was genuinely unaware of their conduct despite widespread public scrutiny over a controversial joke he delivered at the British Comedy Awards in 2004.
The development follows a three-year joint investigation published by The Guardian and ITV News detailing serious allegations against Walliams, one of Britain’s best-known television personalities and children’s authors. Several women have accused him of using his power and celebrity status to prey on young women and teenagers for sex. Walliams, 55, has denied any wrongdoing, though his legal attempt to prevent publication through an injunction was rejected by the courts.
The 2004 Comedy Awards Footage and Ross’s Response
Public attention has returned to an archival clip from the 2004 British Comedy Awards, where Ross quipped that the event was “like most 15-year-olds… drunk, it’s unpredictable and it’s probably going home with David Walliams.” Addressing the footage, Ross explained that the joke was submitted by the awards scriptwriting team and that he believed the punchline merely referenced Walliams’s public dating history with younger women, exaggerated for comic effect.
“It is also a tasteless joke that I would not dream of making today about anyone, but that is beside the point,” Ross said in his statement. He added that had he suspected the line referred to actual events, he would have refused to use it and would not have continued a personal or professional relationship with Walliams.
Broadcasters, Agencies, and Government Reactions
The fallout from the investigation has led to immediate institutional and commercial consequences across the British media landscape. Walliams has been dropped by his literary agency, Independent Talent Group, which stated it was deeply disturbed by the allegations. Fremantle UK, the production company behind Britain’s Got Talent—where Walliams served as a judge from 2012 to 2022—similarly expressed concern.
Meanwhile, Sky announced it would no longer hold the licence for Fing!, a film written by and starring Walliams that had been scheduled for release next year. The BBC confirmed it is removing programmes including Little Britain while reviewing all material featuring or written by Walliams on its platforms.
In government, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy described the claims as the latest in a long line of reported abuses of power and pledged to meet with senior media executives to draw a line in the sand. Downing Street termed the allegations deeply troubling, and Walliams’s Labour Party membership has been suspended while he remains in a psychiatric hospital. Former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips also defended the legal threshold that allowed the reporting to proceed, warning that allowing the injunction would have set a dangerous precedent for powerful public figures seeking to silence investigations.