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Jonathan Ross ‘horrified’ by allegations about David Walliams and Russell Brand

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Feric, C. (2026, November 11). Jonathan Ross ‘horrified’ by allegations about David Walliams and Russell Brand. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/jonathan-ross-david-walliams-russell-brand-the-guardian-andrew-sachs-b1304386.html

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-11-11 · by Carla Feric

Quick Summary

Jonathan Ross, the 65-year-old TV presenter, expressed his shock and horror over allegations against David Walliams and Russell Brand's criminal convictions. In response to resurfaced footage from 2004 where he joked about Walliams and underage teenagers, Ross stated that at the time of making the joke, he was unaware of any wrongdoing by Walliams or Brand. He emphasized his regret for the joke and acknowledged the impact it may have had on those who saw it.
Written by AI on 2026-11-12, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).
See how they differ ↓

AI analysis

Story summary

David Walliams, a renowned British comedian and children's author, is facing serious allegations of sexual misconduct involving young women. In May 2026, multiple news outlets including ITV News and The Guardian published claims that Walliams used his fame to prey on girls as young as 15 for sexual purposes over many years. Despite initial legal efforts to block the publication of these allegations through an injunction in London’s High Court, Walliams failed to file a timely appeal after losing this bid. Consequently, he is no longer protected by anonymity and could soon be publicly named.

The case has garnered significant attention due to its implications for media ethics and corporate responsibility within the British entertainment industry. As details emerge, several of Walliams' professional relationships have dissolved; notably, comedian Jonathan Ross has distanced himself from Walliams following these allegations.

Written for “David Walliams Allegations Controversy” on 2026-11-13, grounded in this article and the 83 other(s) covering the same event.

How they differ

17 outlets covered “David Walliams Allegations Controversy”.

What each outlet says

One AI summary per outlet of its latest article on this story, written from that article alone and checked against it. Open the article for the outlet's own words.

Evening StandardThis outlet11 Nov

Jonathan Ross, the 65-year-old TV presenter, expressed his shock and horror over allegations against David Walliams and Russell Brand's criminal convictions. In response to resurfaced footage from 2004 where he joked about Walliams and underage teenagers, Ross stated that at the time of making the joke, he was unaware of any wrongdoing by Walliams or Brand. He emphasized his regret for the joke and acknowledged the…

Jonathan Ross ‘horrified’ by allegations about David Walliams and Russell Brand (this article)35 articles from Evening Standard on this story
Daily Mail12 Nov

Comedian Lucy Beaumont disclosed on Tuesday that she was the whistleblower who revealed David Walliams' legal attempt to suppress sexual assault allegations against him, involving a 15-year-old girl and other teenage victims. Known for her advocacy work with Hull Women's Aid since becoming its patron in 2024, Beaumont uses her platform to support abuse survivors and raise awareness about domestic violence issues…

Lucy Beaumont's fight for girls' safety: How comedian became a patron of Women's Aid - as she reveals herself as David Walliams whistleblower →15 articles from Daily Mail on this story
BBC11 Nov

Jonathan Ross expressed horror over allegations of sexual misconduct involving David Walliams and Russell Brand's rape conviction, stating he was unaware of their conduct while they were friends. In his statement, Ross addressed a tasteless joke about Walliams from 2004 that he says was written by others for him to deliver and which he would have refused had he suspected its implications. The article covers the…

Jonathan Ross 'horrified' by Walliams allegations and Brand conviction →7 articles from BBC on this story
The Guardian11 Nov

Distributors of the Australian film "Fing!", based on a book by British author David Walliams, have removed his cameo appearance and excluded him from publicity events following sexual harassment allegations against him. Transmission Films confirmed this decision ahead of the movie's January 14 release date. Major streaming service Stan and US distributor Angel Studios also announced they would cut Walliams’…

David Walliams cameo cut from Australian film after sexual harassment allegations →5 articles from The Guardian on this story
ABC News (AU)11 Nov

David Walliams, a popular British comedian and children’s author, faces multiple allegations of sexual assault and harassment involving teenage fans and colleagues, following a three-year investigation by ITV News and The Guardian. Despite denying all claims, Walliams has experienced severe professional consequences including the withdrawal of his books from sale and distribution. This incident has sparked broader…

After Brand and Walliams, UK media confronts its 'laddie' culture →5 articles from ABC News (AU) on this story
Sydney Morning Herald12 Nov

The article reports on the fallout faced by British comedian David Walliams following allegations of sexual misconduct against him, published by The Guardian and ITV News after a three-year investigation. Friends like Jonathan Ross have distanced themselves, while several media platforms in Australia—including ABC, Seven Network, and Stan—have removed his shows from their schedules. Additionally, Dymocks bookstores…

Friends are backing away, his books are binned and shows scrubbed – the downfall of David Walliams →4 articles from Sydney Morning Herald on this story
Show 11 more outlets
New York Post11 Nov

David Walliams has been removed from the film "Fing!" after sexual misconduct allegations surfaced. The movie's producers have eliminated his cameo and he will not participate in its promotion. Sky, which was set to distribute the film in the UK, has also withdrawn its support for the project. Multiple women, including two who were 15 when they met Walliams, have accused him of using his fame to groom them sexually…

David Walliams suffers another career blow after sexual misconduct allegations →2 articles from New York Post on this story
Times of India10 Nov

David Walliams is selling his luxurious four-bedroom townhouse in London’s Regent’s Park for £10.5 million, a significant increase from its 2013 purchase price of £8.45 million. This comes amid controversy over allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior towards teenage fans, which Walliams has denied. The property, located on Prince Albert Road and recently refurbished, boasts approximately 4,527 square feet with…

David Walliams’ London home on sale for £10.5 million amid sexual misconduct involving teenage fans →2 articles from Times of India on this story
South China Morning Post10 Nov

Two British media outlets, ITV News and The Guardian, report that multiple women have come forward to accuse UK children’s author and comedian David Walliams of sexual misconduct, including one incident where a 15-year-old alleged she was sexually assaulted by him. The reports claim Walliams used his fame to target girls and young women for sexual purposes.

UK children’s author David Walliams accused of sexual misconduct →
Toronto Star10 Nov

British comedian and children's author David Walliams faces accusations of sexual misconduct involving multiple women who alleged he groomed teens for sex and sexually assaulted a 15-year-old at his house. ITV News and The Guardian reported the allegations after interviewing over 100 people, with Walliams denying the claims but facing public interest scrutiny about privacy rights for public figures. He attempted…

British comedian and children's author David Walliams accused of sexual misconduct →
The Straits Times10 Nov

On November 10, British author David Walliams was revealed by The Guardian and ITV News as the subject of sexual misconduct allegations he attempted to suppress through legal means. Walliams, known for his children's books and television appearances, sought an injunction against the media companies, claiming that publishing the allegations would drive him to suicide. Multiple women accused Walliams of abusing his…

UK children's author Walliams named as subject of sexual allegations by media →
Toronto Sun10 Nov

British comedian and author David Walliams, 55, is facing allegations of sexual misconduct involving underage girls, with two women accusing him of grooming them when they were teenagers. Despite his lawyers' efforts to prevent publication of his identity due to alleged suicide risk from media attention, a judge ruled otherwise. Walliams has been dropped by his publisher HarperCollins and had an attraction at Alton…

British comedian David Walliams accused of preying on underage girls for sex →
CBC10 Nov

David Walliams, a British comedian and author known for his work on shows like "Little Britain," has been accused by multiple women of preying on them while they were teenagers or young adults. The Guardian and ITV News conducted a three-year investigation revealing that some interactions began when the accusers were as young as 15 years old. Walliams's legal team tried to block publication but failed; he denies all…

David Walliams, U.K. comedian and author, accused of preying on teenage girls →
Global News10 Nov

ITV News and The Guardian reported on Tuesday that British TV star and author David Walliams is accused of grooming girls and young women for sexual purposes over the past decade. Multiple interviews with alleged victims are cited in the reports, including one woman who claims he sexually assaulted her at age 15. Walliams, 55, denies the allegations and his lawyers argued successfully for temporary privacy but lost…

British TV star and author David Walliams accused of sexual misconduct →
Al Jazeera10 Nov

David Walliams, a British comedian and children’s author known for his popular books and TV appearances, has been accused of grooming teenage fans and sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl at his home. The Guardian and ITV News published joint investigations revealing multiple women alleging misconduct by Walliams over the past decade; he denies targeting teenagers but admits to thoughtless behavior. Following…

UK children’s author David Walliams accused of grooming minors →
Daily Caller10 Nov

The Guardian identified David Walliams, a comedian and former judge of "Britain's Got Talent," as the celebrity who threatened suicide if sexual harassment allegations were revealed. The article reports that Walliams allegedly preyed on young women, with some victims as young as 15 years old at the time of alleged encounters dating back to 2004. Multiple women came forward using pseudonyms, claiming that Walliams…

The Guardian Reveals ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ Judge One Who Threatened To Off Himself If Sexual Harassment Allegations Got Out →
The Independent11 Nov

Russell Brand, a prominent British comedian and actor, has been sentenced to ten and a half years in prison for rape and sexual assault following his conviction last week. Simultaneously, another well-known comedian, David Walliams, faced public allegations of preying on young female fans, including teenagers, which led him to seek an injunction against media publication; however, the judge dismissed this request…

Walliams and Brand were leading UK comics. Now they are part of a reckoning over sexual misconduct →

Where they agree and split

Agreed

Reported by outlets on both sides of the middle

One woman, named by ITV News and the Guardian as Jade, said she was 15 and Walliams was 36 when they met in August 2007 and he invited her to his house.

8 outlets
Show 3 more

Walliams denies that he sexually harassed anyone at HarperCollins or behaved inappropriately in the workplace.

8 outlets

Walliams’ status as a family-friendly entertainer was burnished in 2012 when he became a judge on Britain’s Got Talent.

7 outlets

“And whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely and it is something I never did.”

6 outlets

Framing

How the first headlines put it

Stated as fact3
The headlines (3)

Celebrity accused of 'inappropriate sexual activities' fails to lodge appeal over failed injunction and could be named Evening Standard · stated as fact

Celebrity accused of sex abuse could be named after he appears to miss deadline for appealing injunction refusal decision Daily Mail · stated as fact

Anonymous celebrity in sexual assault scandal could now be named after missing appeal deadline New York Post · stated as fact

Words to watch (3)

David Walliams: Met Police 'to assess' any allegations made against him after bombshell sex claims by several women Evening Standard

Anonymous celebrity in sexual assault scandal could now be named after missing appeal deadline New York Post

From Little Britain and Comic Relief to marrying a supermodel...then sex allegation scandal: A timeline of David Walliams's career highs and lows Daily Mail

The full story: what happened, how it changed, and all 84 articles →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 8% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard
Hedges 1 of 13 claims Outlet record 64/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 1 of 14 claims Outlet record 64/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 1 of 13 claims Outlet record 64/100
The Guardian
Hedges 2 of 26 claims Outlet record 65/100
Daily Mail
Hedges 5 of 39 claims Outlet record 70/100
“Article A describes Ross making a joke at the 2004 British Comedy Awards, while Article B refers to Ross's reaction to allegations about Walliams and Brand years later.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 2 of 28 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles discuss different aspects of Jonathan Ross's relationship with David Walliams and Russell Brand, rather than a single specific incident.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 2 of 28 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A focuses on Ross's response to allegations against Walliams and Brand, while Article B discusses the history of Ross's friendship with Brand and their involvement in the 'Sachsgate' scandal.”
Daily Mail
Hedges 0 of 17 claims Outlet record 70/100
“Article A describes a joke segment about pretending to be gay on Russell Brand's TV show, while Article B discusses Jonathan Ross's reaction to allegations against David Walliams and Russell Brand.”

Story

David Walliams Allegations Controversy
Entertainment · 84 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
13
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
8%
1 of 13 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
84
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
4
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-12 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 9825 article(s) · 75 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 75 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Carla Feric
108 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
Russell Brand will be the subject of a new Netflix documentary charting his rise to international fame and his dramatic fall from grace, after he was jailed for 10 and a half years for rape and sexual assault.
When asked whether she thinks the law is strong enough to protect young people who might be being groomed, Baroness Casey said: “We have not got our attitude towards children and the protection of children right.”
The award-winner, known for hits including New Rules, Don’t Start Now and Levitating, will headline the first night of the event in Indio, California next spring.
“It is also a tasteless joke that I would not dream of making today about anyone, but that is beside the point.
When asked whether she thinks the law is strong enough to protect young people who might be being groomed, Baroness Casey said: “We have not got our attitude towards children and the protection of children right.”
Read More “This joke was submitted to me by the Comedy Awards script writing team and I believed that the punchline was a reference to the fact he had publicly dated younger women, exaggerated for comic effect. “It is also a tasteless joke that I would not dream of making today about anyone, but that is beside the point. “Had I had any reason to suspect that it might be referring to actual events, I would not only have refused to use it, but I would not have felt comfortable continuing a personal or professional relationship with him. “I also like to think that I would have acted upon that knowledge.”
“Readers will also recognise many tropes from cinema: the disaster movie, the road movie, the couple on the run, the noir heroine with a gun in her bag, the apocalypse.
Read More “Maybe it will make us think of things differently moving forward,” she said.
The 30-year-old will make his presenting debut alongside The One Show host Alex Jones, broadcaster Rylan Clark and BBC Radio 2 presenter Sara Cox, while comedian Mel Giedroyc returns for her 10th year. West said being part of the charity’s flagship fundraising programme was “one of the biggest honours of my life so far”.
It also does something television cannot, and answers the question of who would have won if different players had been chosen as the traitors.
Also by Carla Feric
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 108 articles by Carla Feric →

Topics

BBC Radio 2 British Comedy Awards the Comedy Awards

Subjects

Walliams PERSON · 6× Ross PERSON · 3× Brand PERSON · 2× BBC Radio 2 ORG · 1× David Walliams PERSON · 1× Georgina Baillie PERSON · 1× Russell Brand PERSON · 1×

Narrative

In his statement, Ross also addressed his controversial joke about Walliams and said: “I recognise how deeply shocking it is to revisit footage of a joke delivered by me at the Comedy Awards in 2004, in which I make light of the notion of Walliams going home with a 15-year-old.
framing: assertive · carried by 4 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-11
“It is also a tasteless joke that I would not dream of making today about anyone, but that is beside the point.

Claims (13 extracted, 1 hedged)

The TV presenter, 65, spoke out after footage resurfaced of him joking about Walliams and 15-year-olds at the 2004 British Comedy Awards. asserted
him → speak → Awards
Walliams denies all allegations against him. asserted
Walliams → deny → him
The image shows him alongside Walliams at an event attended by a woman who later made allegations about Walliams’ conduct. asserted
who → show → conduct
In a statement Ross said: “I am as horrified by the revelations about David Walliams and the crimes of Russell Brand as the rest of the nation. asserted
I → say → nation
“There was a time in my life when I was on friendly terms with both men, and during that period I was genuinely unaware of their conduct. asserted
I → be → conduct
Read More “My thoughts are with the many, many women who have bravely come forward.” asserted
who → read → women
The Jonathan Ross Show host has faced scrutiny over his past association with Brand, who was jailed on Monday for 10-and-a-half years for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others. asserted
who → face → others
Ross appeared on several television shows alongside Brand and also featured on his BBC Radio 2 show in 2008, when the pair became embroiled in a scandal involving Georgina Baillie. asserted
pair → appear → Baillie
In his statement, Ross also addressed his controversial joke about Walliams and said: “I recognise how deeply shocking it is to revisit footage of a joke delivered by me at the Comedy Awards in 2004, in which I make light of the notion of Walliams going home with a 15-year-old. asserted
Walliams → address → old
“This joke was submitted to me by the Comedy Awards script writing team and I believed that the punchline was a reference to the fact he had publicly dated younger women, exaggerated for comic effect. asserted
he → submit → effect
“It is also a tasteless joke that I would not dream of making today about anyone, but that is beside the point. asserted
that → dream → point
“Had I had any reason to suspect that it might be referring to actual events, I would not only have refused to use it, but I would not have felt comfortable continuing a personal or professional relationship with him. uncertain
I → have → him
“I also like to think that I would have acted upon that knowledge.” asserted
I → like → knowledge
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