The former Britain's Got Talent judge reportedly behaved in an inappropriate manner towards colleagues at HarperCollins.
By Alex Storey
David Walliams has been dropped by the publisher of his children's books amid claims he "harassed" young women at work.
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The former Britain's Got Talent judge reportedly behaved in an inappropriate manner towards colleagues at HarperCollins.
An investigation carried out by the Telegraph found that one woman who raised concerns was given a five-figure payoff by the publisher and has since left the company.
A spokesperson for Walliams says the author "strongly denies" the allegations.
The decision to axe the Walliams comes after the departure of the publisher's former chief executive, Charlie Redmayne, who left the company in October.
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It is understood that the Little Britain star did not know about the HarperCollins investigation and that its conclusions were not put to him.
A spokesman for HarperCollins told LBC: "After careful consideration, and under the leadership of its new CEO, HarperCollins UK has decided not to publish any new titles by David Walliams."
In a statement sent to the Telegraph, HarperCollins told the newspaper: "HarperCollins takes employee wellbeing extremely seriously and has processes in place for reporting and investigating concerns. To respect the privacy of individuals we do not comment on internal matters."
Sources told the newspaper that some junior members of staff were kept away from the author and one employee agreed a settlement and received a payoff.
It is also claimed they were told to work in “pairs” when meeting Walliams and were advised not to visit his home.
First rising to fame on the sketch show Little Britain, Walliams became one of the country's most well known children's authors, selling more than 60 million copies of his books.
In 2019 it was estimated that he and his publisher had sold £100m worth of books which are widely used in schools and have been translated into 55 languages, according to HarperCollins.
Concerns were raised in 2023 by a junior employee and the investigation by HarperCollins followed.
Employees who had worked with him were interviewed as part of the inquiry, which also involved at least one in-house lawyer.
A spokesperson for David Walliams said: "David has never been informed of any allegations raised against him by HarperCollins.
"He was not party to any investigation or given any opportunity to answer questions. David strongly denies that he has behaved inappropriately and is taking legal advice."
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