Jonathan Ross, now 65, has stepped away from two men he once called friends, as a three-year joint investigation by the Guardian and ITV paints a troubling picture of David Walliams and the power his fame conferred. The story belongs to a much older and wider reckoning, in which the stage and the screen have repeatedly proved to be places where proximity to celebrity can shield wrongdoing from those who should see it. Ross insists he was unaware at the time, and he disowns a jest from 2004 that now reads very differently; Walliams denies predatory conduct while admitting he treated some casual
Jonathan Ross Says He Was 'Genuinely Unaware' of Walliams and Brand Conduct as Allegations Mount
Multiple women say they were preyed on by Walliams for sex, including alleged encounters with teenagers as young as 15, and Brand has been convicted of rape and sexual assaults.
"Genuinely unaware" of conduct he once stood beside
Mark
Why did Ross feel he had to speak at all?
Mimi
Because of the 2004 clip. A joke about the Comedy Awards 'going home with David Walliams' sounds very different once you read allegations involving teenagers as young as 15.
Luke
Worth saying that the allegations are just that. Walliams denies them, and he says he has not broken the law.
Mark
What does Walliams actually concede?
Mimi
That he behaved thoughtlessly in casual relationships and didn't always consider people's feelings. He also accepts that fame creates a power imbalance, but says he never abused it.
Mark
And Ross's explanation of the joke?
Mimi
He says the writing team submitted it and he read it as a nod to Walliams dating younger women.
Luke
That's Ross's account of his own understanding. The piece offers no independent confirmation of who wrote it or what was meant, so it rests on his word.
Mark
Why mention Gervais, Fallon and Cornish?
Mimi
They appear in a charity event photo with Walliams and a teenager who now accuses him of grooming. The report is explicit that nobody suggests they knew anything.
Luke
Also, Brand's case is different in kind: he has been convicted. Walliams has not been charged with anything in what we're told here.
El Pulso
- A joint Guardian and ITV investigation has landed, alleging that Walliams used celebrity to target young women, including, it is claimed, teenagers as young as 15.
- Jonathan Ross is scrambling to separate himself from both Walliams and Russell Brand, insisting he knew nothing of their conduct.
- A resurfaced 2004 Comedy Awards joke about Walliams and a 15-year-old has become the flashpoint, with Ross blaming the scriptwriting team.
- Walliams flatly denies being a predator or breaking the law, while conceding he behaved thoughtlessly in past casual relationships.
- Brand, jailed after a recent conviction for rape and sexual assault, sits in the background as police responses and industry fallout remain open questions.
Jonathan Ross, now 65, has stepped away from two men he once called friends, as a three-year joint investigation by the Guardian and ITV paints a troubling picture of David Walliams and the power his fame conferred. The story belongs to a much older and wider reckoning, in which the stage and the screen have repeatedly proved to be places where proximity to celebrity can shield wrongdoing from those who should see it. Ross insists he was unaware at the time, and he disowns a jest from 2004 that now reads very differently; Walliams denies predatory conduct while admitting he treated some casual partners thoughtlessly. Brand's recent conviction stands as a hard fact in the background, and what happens next will depend on whether more people are willing to speak.
Jonathan Ross, who is 65, has issued a statement distancing himself from David Walliams and Russell Brand, two men he once counted as friends. It arrived on the same day a joint Guardian and ITV News investigation went online, accusing Walliams of using his celebrity to prey on vulnerable teenagers and young women. The inquiry took three years, concerns Walliams, who is 55, and includes new allegations from several women, including claims involving teenagers as young as 15.
Ross says he was as horrified as anyone by the revelations and by Brand's crimes, and that during their friendship he had no knowledge of what was happening. His thoughts, he said, are with the women who have come forward. Brand is now in jail after being convicted last week of one rape and three sexual assaults.
Ross also addressed an old clip from the 2004 Comedy Awards, in which he joked that the awards, being 15, were drunk and probably going home with Walliams. He says the line was written by the awards' scriptwriting team and was meant as a jab at Walliams dating younger women. He calls it a tasteless joke he would never make today, and insists that had he suspected it reflected real events, he would have refused to use it and walked away from the friendship.
Walliams denies all wrongdoing. In a letter to the journalists, he admitted he had sometimes behaved thoughtlessly with casual partners and failed to consider their feelings, which he regrets. He said he never abused his power and is not a sexual predator, and that he is devastated some women he met a decade or more ago now feel hurt or angry toward him.
The report also points to a charity event photograph showing several celebrities, including Ross, with Walliams's arm around a teenager who now accuses him of grooming. The coverage states plainly that there is no suggestion any of the others pictured knew of wrongdoing. What comes next, it notes, depends on whether more women come forward, how the police respond, and what the fallout looks like for both men in the entertainment industry.
Jonathan Ross, who is 65, has put out a statement distancing himself from two men he once counted as friends: David Walliams and Russell Brand. It came on the day a joint investigation by the Guardian and ITV News was published online, accusing Walliams of using his celebrity to target vulnerable teenagers and young women for sex.
The investigation took three years and concerns Walliams, who is 55. It alleges he abused his power and position for sexual purposes on multiple occasions, including with teenagers as young as 15. Several women make new allegations against him in the piece, describing how he is said to have preyed on them.
Ross said he was as horrified by the revelations about Walliams and by Brand's crimes as the rest of the nation. He said there was a time when he was on friendly terms with both men, and that during that period he was genuinely unaware of their conduct. His thoughts, he said, were with the many women who have bravely come forward. Brand is currently in jail, convicted last week of one rape and three sexual assaults.
Ross also addressed an old clip from the 2004 Comedy Awards. In it, he joked that the awards were 15 years old, and that like most 15-year-olds they were drunk, unpredictable and probably going home with David Walliams. He called it deeply shocking to revisit the footage. He said he did not write the joke: it was submitted by the awards' scriptwriting team, and he took the punchline as a reference to Walliams having publicly dated younger women, exaggerated for comic effect.
He called it a tasteless joke he would not dream of making about anyone today, though he added that this was beside the point. Had he had any reason to suspect it referred to real events, he said, he would have refused to use it and would not have been comfortable continuing a personal or professional relationship with Walliams. He concluded that he liked to think he would have acted on that knowledge.
Walliams denies all wrongdoing. In a letter to the journalists behind the investigation, he wrote that looking back he realised he had at times behaved thoughtlessly towards people with whom he had casual sexual relationships, and had not always taken their feelings properly into account, which he regretted. He acknowledged that a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, but said abusing that power is something else entirely and that he never did it. He wrote that he is not a sexual predator and has not broken the law, and that he is devastated that some women he met 10 to 20 years ago now express hurt or anger towards him.
The coverage also notes a charity event photograph showing several celebrities, Ross among them, in which Walliams is seen with his arm around a teenager who now accuses him of grooming. Others pictured include Ricky Gervais, Jane Fallon and Joe Cornish. The report states plainly that there is no suggestion any of them knew of alleged wrongdoing.
What to watch now is whether more women come forward, how police respond, and what fallout follows for both men within the entertainment industry.
Citas Notables
I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law.— David Walliams, in a letter to the investigating journalists
I was genuinely unaware of their conduct.— Jonathan Ross
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