In the quiet machinery of a creative industry long shaped by fame and deference, a government minister now stands at a threshold: next week Lisa Nandy will ask broadcasters, publishers and film makers to police themselves over safeguarding, or accept that the state may do it for them. The occasion is a joint investigation into entertainer David Walliams, who denies the allegations against him, and the grim question it raises again: why do such warnings circulate for years in whispers before they reach the public record? The answer the government reaches for is structural, a voluntary watchdog
Government Threatens to Force Media Industry Into Safeguarding Watchdog After Walliams Allegations
Several women allege Walliams sexually misconduct against them, including one who says an encounter at 15 was sexual assault; he denies all allegations.
The people who need monitoring are the ones not joining
Mark
Why is a Culture Secretary threatening an industry watchdog rather than just commenting on the Walliams story?
Mimi
Because the story has become about systems. Nandy is using the allegations and the Russell Brand sentencing as the moment to press the industry to act, and CIISA is the tool she has in mind.
Mark
What's the weakness in CIISA, as critics describe it?
Mimi
It's voluntary. Zelda Perkins puts it bluntly: no other regulator works that way, and the people who most need monitoring are the ones not joining.
Luke
Let me flag what's solid here. The threat itself is sourced to what the BBC "understands", not to a published government statement. It's reliable reporting, but it's not an announcement.
Mimi
Fair. Nandy's public line is that she's summoning leaders to draw a line in the sand. The compulsion option comes from Newsnight's understanding of her planned message.
Mark
And the allegations against Walliams?
Luke
They're allegations, and he denies all of them. He says he's not a sexual predator and hasn't broken the law, while acknowledging he sometimes behaved thoughtlessly in casual relationships. His lawyers deny he harassed anyone at work.
Mimi
The anonymous producer's account adds a different layer: she says staff were told to keep him from young runners. That's one unnamed person's recollection, though.
Mark
Why do these stories take years to surface?
Mimi
Kate Smurthwaite described the backlash women face, legal or career-related or just being seen as a problem. That's why NDAs are in the frame too.
Luke
What's still unknown is whether any of this becomes law. Phillipson said there's scope to go further on NDAs, but no specific legislation has been named.
Il Polso
- A joint Guardian and ITV investigation has detonated across the industry, with several women alleging sexual misconduct by David Walliams, who flatly denies every claim.
- Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is summoning industry leaders next week with an ultimatum: fix safeguarding or face compulsory membership of the CIISA watchdog.
- Ministers are pressing to tighten non-disclosure agreements, arguing the legal system is being used to silence women and keep damaging stories hidden.
- Advocates like Zelda Perkins say the voluntary system has failed, and the outcome of the round table will reveal whether the sector moves on its own or is forced to.
In the quiet machinery of a creative industry long shaped by fame and deference, a government minister now stands at a threshold: next week Lisa Nandy will ask broadcasters, publishers and film makers to police themselves over safeguarding, or accept that the state may do it for them. The occasion is a joint investigation into entertainer David Walliams, who denies the allegations against him, and the grim question it raises again: why do such warnings circulate for years in whispers before they reach the public record? The answer the government reaches for is structural, a voluntary watchdog that might be made compulsory and tighter limits on the silencing agreements that have so often kept hard truths out of sight.
Next week Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will sit down with leaders from broadcasting, publishing, film and entertainment, and she is expected to deliver a blunt warning: if the industry does not fix its safeguarding itself, the government may force the issue. The option on the table is making membership of the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority, known as CIISA and designed to protect whistleblowers, compulsory. For now, joining is voluntary.
The meeting follows a three-year joint investigation by the Guardian and ITV News. Several women accuse entertainer David Walliams of sexual misconduct and of abusing his position. Walliams lost a legal bid to stop the claims being published, and he denies all of them. In a letter to journalists he said he was "not a sexual predator" and had not broken the law, though he acknowledged he had sometimes behaved thoughtlessly toward people he had casual relationships with. One woman now describes an alleged encounter when she was 15 as a sexual assault.
An anonymous producer who worked with Walliams on a TV show years ago said staff were warned to keep him away from young women, and that his behaviour was well known. Comedian Kate Smurthwaite described his name coming up again and again with a sense of worry. Asked why such claims surface so late, she pointed to the backlash women face, which can be legal, professional or simply being labelled a problem.
Political pressure is also building on non-disclosure agreements. Minister Bridget Phillipson said there was scope to go further, insisting that rich and powerful men must not be able to silence women. Zelda Perkins, who broke an NDA to speak about Harvey Weinstein, argues CIISA should be mandatory, calling the sector a wild west and saying that while people cannot be changed, the rules around them can.
All eyes now turn to the round table: whether the industry's answer is robust enough, and whether ministers move to compel membership or legislate further on NDAs.
Next week, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will sit down with leaders from broadcasting, publishing, film and entertainment, and the BBC understands she will carry a warning: if the industry does not fix its safeguarding on its own, the government may do it for them. BBC Newsnight has learned that the option on the table is forcing companies to take part in the Creative Industries Independent Standards Authority, known as CIISA, a body meant to protect whistleblowers. Participation is voluntary at present.
The meeting follows two events. One was the publication of a joint three-year investigation by the Guardian and ITV News, in which several women accuse the entertainer David Walliams of sexual misconduct and of abusing his position. The investigation came out after Walliams lost a legal bid to stop the claims being made public. He denies all the allegations. The other was the sentencing of Russell Brand on charges of rape and sexual assault. Earlier this week Nandy said she was summoning industry leaders to "draw a line" in the sand.
Newsnight understands she will deliver two messages. The first is that the industry must meet the moment, take responsibility and tackle safeguarding itself. The second is that if the response falls short, the government may step in, and that could include making CIISA membership compulsory.
The allegations themselves are serious. In the Guardian's reporting, some of the women accused Walliams of "grooming" them when they were teenagers. One now describes her alleged encounter with him at 15 as a "sexual assault". In a letter to journalists, published by the paper, Walliams said he was "not a sexual predator" and had not "broken the law". He also said he realised that at times he had behaved thoughtlessly towards other people he had casual sexual relationships with, and that he regretted not always taking their feelings properly into account. The Guardian reported that his lawyers say he has never been warned or "got into trouble" for messaging runners, and deny that he behaved inappropriately or harassed young women in the workplace.
Separately, a producer who worked on a TV show where Walliams appeared as a celebrity guest several years ago has spoken to the BBC anonymously. She said she was told to keep him away from young female staff, that he was warned of as "creepy" and "inappropriate", and that it was "well-known" he should not be paired with young female runners. She said she "wasn't at all surprised" when the allegations emerged. Comedian Kate Smurthwaite told Newsnight his was a name that came up "over and over again", with a "sense of worry" about him working with young people. Asked why such claims take so long to surface, she pointed to the backlash women face, which might be legal, professional, or as subtle as being seen as "a problem".
Political pressure is building on non-disclosure agreements too. Several ministers called on Wednesday for further restrictions. Women and Equalities minister Bridget Phillipson told Sky News there was "scope to go further" on legislation, so the legal system is not "abused in order to silence women". She added: "We cannot have a system where rich and powerful individuals, rich and powerful men, are able to silence women and stop things coming to light."
Zelda Perkins, founder of Can't Buy My Silence, argues that CIISA should be mandatory. A former assistant to the jailed film producer Harvey Weinstein, she broke an NDA in 2017 to speak publicly about his treatment of women, and now campaigns against such clauses in contracts and settlements. She told Newsnight there are "not enough safeguards" around high-profile people in the creative industries, and that no other regulatory body is voluntary to join. "Obviously the people who need to be monitored are the people who are not joining," she said, calling the sector "still very wild west" and adding that while "you can't change the humans, you can change the rules around them."
What to watch is how robust the industry's answer is at next week's round table, and whether ministers then move to compel CIISA membership or legislate further on NDAs.
Citazioni salienti
We cannot have a system where rich and powerful individuals, rich and powerful men, are able to silence women and stop things coming to light.— Bridget Phillipson, Women and Equalities minister
You can't change the humans, you can change the rules around them.— Zelda Perkins, founder of Can't Buy My Silence
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