Comedian Lucy Beaumont comes forward as David Walliams whistleblower following sexual misconduct claims
Lucy Beaumont has revealed that she gave information to the journalists investigating David Walliams after sexual misconduct allegations were made against him.
Speaking to Cathy Newman on Sky News on Tuesday (10 November), the 43-year-old comedian revealed that she provided information to The Guardian after a former TV staffer confided in her about Walliams’ alleged behaviour.
It comes after a joint investigation by the outlet and ITV News accused him of grooming teenage girls as young as 15 and abusing his position to pursue women.
The children’s author, 55, has denied any wrongdoing and unsuccessfully tried to obtain an injunction to prevent the media reporting the allegations against him.
Sharing that she was a whistleblower, Beaumont said: “I don’t know Walliams, I haven’t worked with him but, bizarrely, it’s been a really strange day for me because, about three years ago, a young person - and it was their first job on TV - worked on a show he was on, and the next show that they worked on was with me.
“They took me aside and said, ‘I need to tell somebody something,’ and confided in me.”
Beaumont said the young person told her that they had to ‘take young girls’ who were ‘definitely’ over 16 to Walliams’ dressing room, and he ‘felt they were vulnerable’.
"At the time, he didn’t think there was a process, a way to let people know within the TV company what was happening and how he felt and I was really worried," she said.
"I did as much as I could do privately. Whenever I’ve heard a rumour about anyone, I’ve done everything I can. There’s only so much you can do. I’m not the police. Nothing seems to be illegal."
She clarified that she had never worked with Walliams or witnessed any inappropriate behaviour, but was ‘worried that these girls were young’.
Beaumont said: “I was really worried, and I was one of the whistleblowers. I was one of the people to let The Guardian know.”
She also called for a better way for those working in TV to raise safeguarding issues, outlining: “People are saying, ‘why tell journalists?’ There’s no HR department in TV. There’s no proper duty of care. There’s no social services that you deal with, and it’s partly because the industry is very well-managed.
“These things slip through the net because, I think, there will be now, but there hasn’t been a process that you can deal with.”
She also admitted that she feels like speaking out may harm her career, telling Newman: “Honestly, I don’t think I’ll work in telly again, I honestly don’t.”
Beaumont said: “The reason high-profile people are not saying anything is because they lose work, because you’re seen that you might be a trouble causer. It does need to be said that there needs to be some intervention.”
In a letter sent several months ago by Walliams to the journalists working on the investigations, he wrote: “Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with.
“I realise I did not always take people’s feelings properly into account. That is something I regret. And whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely and it is something that I never did.”
Walliams added: “I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.”
LADBible Group has contacted a representative for Walliams for comment.
Madison Burgess
