Jonathan Ross Says He Is 'Horrified' as Walliams Allegations and Brand Conviction Draw Scrutiny

On Tuesday night, Jonathan Ross put out a statement saying he was "horrified" by two stories that had landed on him at once: the allegations against David Walliams, and Russell Brand's conviction for rape. He said he had been friendly with both men at one time, but was "genuinely unaware of their conduct," and that his thoughts were with the many women who had come forward.

The Walliams claims came out the same day. A three-year joint investigation by ITV News and The Guardian named him as the celebrity accused of preying on young girls and on employees. Walliams had tried to stop Independent Television News, which produces news for ITV and Channel 4, and Guardian News and Media, the Guardian's publisher, from running the story. The allegations reach back as far as 2003. They include claims involving two girls as young as 15. One of the schoolgirls described an alleged encounter as "sexual assault" and said he told her to wait until she was 16 for sex. Several women said they were "groomed" as teenagers and described him as "pushy" and "predatory."

Walliams denies wrongdoing. He has said: "I am not a sexual predator… I have not broken the law." He acknowledged that at times he behaved thoughtlessly toward people he had casual sexual relationships with and did not always weigh their feelings, which he said he regrets. He also said a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, but that abusing it is something he never did. He added that he is devastated that some women he met ten to twenty years ago have expressed hurt or anger toward him.

Ross was under pressure because of a 2004 clip that went viral. Hosting the Comedy Awards, he told the audience the event was 15 years old, then said that like all 15-year-olds it was drunk, unpredictable and "probably going home with David Walliams." It is understood Ross did not write the joke but only delivered it. In his statement he called it "tasteless" and said he would not dream of making it today. He said the script-writing team gave him the line and that he took the punchline as a reference to Walliams publicly dating younger women, exaggerated for comic effect. Had he suspected it referred to real events, he said, he would have refused to use it and would not have felt comfortable continuing a personal or professional relationship with Walliams. He added that he likes to think he would have acted on such knowledge.

The Brand side of the scrutiny follows a sentencing on Monday. Brand, 51, received ten and a half years in jail for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. Police have said "several" more people have come forward since the verdict, and prosecutors are assessing whether to bring further charges. The Guardian reported that at least 10 more women are suspected of having been attacked by Brand.

Ross and Brand share a history. They appeared on several TV shows together. In 2008 they left a series of vulgar voicemails for the actor Andrew Sachs on BBC Radio 2, making explicit comments about Brand's relationship with Sachs' granddaughter, Georgina Baillie. At one point Ross shouted, "He f***ed your granddaughter!" The affair, known as Sachsgate, led to Brand's resignation from the BBC and a three-month suspension for Ross from his TV show. Baillie was 20 at the time and has said she was "completely dazzled by celebrity."

Another moment is being revisited: Channel 4's Big Fat Quiz of the Year in 2007, with Ross, Brand and Noel Fielding. Brand made jokes about rape that fellow panellist Lily Allen later called "really horrendous." In that episode Ross moved Allen, then 21, away from Brand and Fielding, calling himself an "uncle figure" and describing the pair as two of the best-known "cocksmen" in the business.

What comes next is largely legal: whether prosecutors charge Brand further, and how Walliams answers allegations he flatly denies.