HarperCollins staff warned about Walliams’ behaviour – but I was sent to his house alone

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Young women working at David Walliams' former publisher say they were alerted about his conduct roughly a decade ago ...

Young women working at David Walliams’ former publisher HarperCollins were warned about “creepy” behaviour roughly a decade ago, yet the company waited several years before investigating alleged inappropriate conduct, according to former staff members.

Several former employees told The i Paper they believe the firm ignored long-standing concerns about the comedian because it was selling millions of his books, prior to eventually dropping him last year.

The allegations will raise further concerns that HarperCollins failed to protect women, as it sold Walliams’ highly profitable children’s titles.

One young woman said she was ordered to visit the bestselling children’s author alone at his house. She was in her early twenties at the time, while he was in his mid-forties. He is now 55. A colleague cautioned that he “might like the look of you”.

Staff were aware that he had dated a colleague in her mid-twenties. According to a source, he also requested for one of the most junior female members of the team to become his dedicated assistant, despite the importance of the demanding role.

A senior former employee believes that some of managers at HarperCollins would “certainly have known about his reputation”. She recalled how Walliams invited a young female worker to a meal, but the woman was advised to decline.

A spokesperson for HarperCollins underlined that it had “terminated its publishing relationship with David Walliams”.

They said: “We take the safety of our people incredibly seriously and to respect the privacy of individuals we do not comment on employee matters.”

Walliams has been revealed as the celebrity who tried to block publication of an investigation by The Guardian and ITV News, in which multiple women accused him of using his fame to prey on them when they were teenagers. He denies the allegations, saying he has not “broken the law” and is “not a sexual predator”.

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