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BBC removes cartoon featuring David Walliams following allegations

Read the original at Evening Standard ↗
Cite

Place, T. (2026, November 14). BBC removes cartoon featuring David Walliams following allegations. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/david-walliams-bbc-cartoon-julia-donaldson-b1304883.html

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

Evening Standard · collected 2026-11-14 · by Tom Place

Quick Summary

The BBC has removed the animated adaptation of "Room On The Broom," featuring David Walliams, from its iPlayer platform following allegations of sexual assault and grooming of minors. Walliams denies the accusations, but the BBC is reviewing all material associated with him and removing some content, including his shows "Little Britain" and "Come Fly With Me." Other broadcasters like Channel 4 and Sky have also taken similar actions, removing Walliams' work from their platforms and dropping future projects.
Written by AI on 2026-11-14, 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 prominent British comedian and children's author, has been accused of sexual misconduct involving multiple women and girls, some as young as 15. The allegations, which span many years, were initially published by ITV News and The Guardian. Walliams attempted to block the publication of these allegations in court but failed after missing a deadline to appeal a High Court ruling. As a result, the identity of the "anonymous celebrity" was revealed. The BBC has since removed the animated film "Room on the Broom," featuring Walliams, from its iPlayer service while conducting a review of all material featuring him. Walliams denies any wrongdoing.

Written for “Police Investigate David Walliams Allegations” on 2026-11-15, grounded in this article and the 95 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 153765 · logged 2026-11-14

How they differ

17 outlets covered “Police Investigate David Walliams Allegations”.

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 outlet14 Nov

The BBC has removed the animated adaptation of "Room On The Broom," featuring David Walliams, from its iPlayer platform following allegations of sexual assault and grooming of minors. Walliams denies the accusations, but the BBC is reviewing all material associated with him and removing some content, including his shows "Little Britain" and "Come Fly With Me." Other broadcasters like Channel 4 and Sky have also…

BBC removes cartoon featuring David Walliams following allegations (this article)40 articles from Evening Standard on this story
Daily Mail13 Nov

The Met Police have launched a formal criminal investigation into David Walliams following allegations of serious non-recent sexual offenses, including the grooming and sexual assault of schoolgirls and young women. The investigation stems from reports by The Guardian and ITV News, which include specific claims from a woman who alleges Walliams molested her in 2007 and another who claims he groomed her while she was…

Police launch criminal probe into David Walliams as victims come forward accusing him of sexual misconduct →14 articles from Daily Mail on this story
BBC13 Nov

The Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation into David Walliams regarding "alleged serious sexual offences" involving a man in his 50s. While the police stated the current investigation is separate from the reports published by ITV News and The Guardian, detectives are proactively reviewing those specific reports to establish if evidence of offences exists. This breaking news report covers the police's…

Police investigating David Walliams over alleged serious sexual offences →8 articles from BBC on this story
The Guardian13 Nov

The Metropolitan Police have launched a criminal investigation into 55-year-old television personality and author David Walliams following multiple reports of alleged sexual misconduct involving young women and teenagers. While the police confirmed they are investigating several non-recent serious sexual offences, they specified that these allegations are separate from those previously reported by the Guardian and…

Met police launch investigation into David Walliams allegations →6 articles from The Guardian on this story
Sydney Morning Herald13 Nov

The Metropolitan Police are investigating 55-year-old children's author and TV personality David Walliams following allegations of serious sex offences, including grooming and sexual assault. While the police noted that new allegations differ from those in recent news reports, investigators will still review those stories for evidence of further crimes. Walliams has denied all accusations in a letter, stating he…

Police investigating children’s author and Little Britain star David Walliams for sex offences →5 articles from Sydney Morning Herald on this story
ABC News (AU)13 Nov

The Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation into 55-year-old children's author and comedian David Walliams following several allegations of "non-recent" serious sexual offences. While the investigation reviews reports of grooming and sexual assault published by The Guardian and ITV earlier this week, Detective Superintendent Mike Cagney stated the police are also looking into separate claims. Walliams…

Breaking: UK police launch investigation into David Walliams →5 articles from ABC News (AU) on this story
Show 11 more outlets
New York Post13 Nov

Police are currently reviewing a number of allegations of non-recent serious sexual offenses against actor and author David Walliams. While Walliams denies the claims and asserts he never abused his power, a previous exposé revealed multiple women who alleged he groomed them for sex when they were as young as 15. The report highlights that these specific investigations are distinct from earlier accusations of…

David Walliams under police investigation for ‘serious sexual offenses’ as more alleged victims come forward →3 articles from New York Post on this story
Times of India13 Nov

The Metropolitan Police are investigating 55-year-old comedian and author David Walliams over several allegations of non-recent sexual offences, including claims of grooming teenage girls and a sexual assault on a woman when she was 15. These allegations stem from a three-year investigation by ITV News and The Guardian that involved speaking to more than 100 people. While Walliams denies all claims of illegal…

British children's author investigated over grooming, assault allegations involving minors →3 articles from Times of India on this story
The Straits Times13 Nov

British police have launched an investigation into allegations of non-recent serious sexual offenses involving a man in his 50s following media reports from The Guardian and ITV News. The reports allege that children's author and comedian David Walliams, who has sold over 60 million books, abused his position of power to prey on young women. While the police stated their investigation covers separate allegations…

UK police investigate allegations against best-selling children's author Walliams →2 articles from The Straits Times on this story
CBC13 Nov

The Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation into children’s author and comedian David Walliams for serious sexual offenses following reports that he used his fame to groom girls and young women. While the police are investigating specific allegations separate from the news reports, they are also reviewing reports from the Guardian and ITV News that include claims of sexual assault and grooming. Walliams…

U.K. police launch sex offence investigation into children’s author and comedian David Walliams →2 articles from CBC on this story
Al Jazeera14 Nov

The Metropolitan Police have launched an investigation into allegations of serious, non-recent sexual offences involving a man in his 50s following media reports that comedian and author David Walliams groomed and sexually abused girls and young women. Reports from ITV News and The Guardian, based on a three-year investigation involving over 100 people, detail accusations dating back as far as 2003, including claims…

UK police open sex offence probe into comedian and author David Walliams →2 articles from Al Jazeera 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 →
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 →
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 →
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 of the women, identified only as Alex, told The Guardian that Walliams contacted her in 2004 — when she was 15 and he was 32.

10 outlets
Show 3 more

The BBC has confirmed it is removing Little Britain and other shows featuring David Walliams from iPlayer amid allegations of inappropriate sexual conduct made against the comedian.

10 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.”

9 outlets

Walliams has published over 40 children’s books and sold more than 60 million copies worldwide, according to his website.

8 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 96 articles →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 25 claims Outlet record 64/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 25 claims Outlet record 64/100
BBC News
Hedges 1 of 14 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different aspects of the same broader situation involving David Walliams, but they do not describe the same specific event. Article A focuses on legal proceedings and denial of allegations, while Article B discusses the BBC's removal of content featuring Walliams.”
BBC News
Hedges 6 of 63 claims Outlet record 66/100
“The articles describe different events: the first reports on allegations and legal proceedings against David Walliams, while the second reports on the BBC's decision to remove a cartoon featuring Walliams due to the allegations.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 16 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different actions by Sky and BBC regarding David Walliams' content, involving different projects and timeframes.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 20 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different actions taken by Sky and BBC in response to allegations against David Walliams, not the same specific incident.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 0 of 51 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A reports on the allegations of sexual misconduct against David Walliams, while Article B reports on the BBC's decision to remove a cartoon featuring Walliams following the allegations. The events described are related but distinct.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 1 of 55 claims Outlet record 64/100
“The articles describe different events: one is about allegations of sexual misconduct, and the other is about the BBC removing a cartoon featuring David Walliams.”
Evening Standard
Hedges 1 of 28 claims Outlet record 64/100
“Article A reports on the allegations and legal action against David Walliams, while Article B discusses the BBC removing a cartoon featuring Walliams in response to the allegations, which is a different event.”

Story

Police Investigate David Walliams Allegations
Crime & Law · 96 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
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 25 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
96
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
3
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-14 · 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 · 10095 article(s) · 76 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 76 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Tom Place
183 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
Speaking to the Sunday Times, Ms Latter waived her right to lifelong anonymity to campaign for a change in law that she hopes will protect teenagers from grooming.
Steve and his neighbours had no idea what they thought was a simple driveway refresh would lead to a seven year planning dispute.
“Enquiries continue at the scene and there will be an increased police presence in the area over the coming days.
Angel Studios confirmed it would still release the film in the US, but a cameo featuring Walliams would be removed and he would not take part in its promotion.
The pub will have a Thai and English-fused menu, while the thatched barn will be an event space for weddings and celebrations.
It is also alleged he “tasked and paid several individuals to help him prepare for the plot, including by procuring vans and barrels of fuel, researching the purchase of chemical accelerants, including large quantities of potassium chloride, and purchasing metallic objects that could be used as explosive shrapnel”.
If the airline believes that providing the care would further delay the flight, it need not deliver.
Read More BBC Newsnight has now reported that culture Secretary Lisa Nandy will tell a meeting of industry leaders next week that she will issue a legal crackdown in order to protect whistleblowers if their response to recent allegations is not robust enough.
In the evenings, he would sort of come and sit with me and stroke my leg, and one night I think he put his head in my lap and sort of be like, 'are you sure you don't want to come and sleep in my bed with me?'
Mayor of Richmond upon Thames, Councillor Nancy Baldwin, said: “This recognition is especially meaningful because residents highlighted their pride in the local area, our beautiful parks and green spaces, and the local services they rely on every day. “
Also by Tom Place
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 183 articles by Tom Place →

Topics

BBC BBC iPlayer Channel 4 Sky iPlayer

Subjects

Walliams PERSON · 13× BBC ORG · 4× David Walliams PERSON · 2× Sky ORG · 2× BBC iPlayer ORG · 1× Channel 4 ORG · 1× Gillian Anderson PERSON · 1× Ireland GPE · 1× Simon Pegg PERSON · 1× iPlayer ORG · 1×

Narrative

The ITV and The Guardian reports about Walliams followed his unsuccessful attempts to seek an injunction to prevent the media revealing his identity – with his lawyers arguing there was a risk he would take his own life after two previous suicide attempts.
framing: assertive · carried by 3 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-14
Angel Studios confirmed it would still release the film in the US, but a cameo featuring Walliams would be removed and he would not take part in its promotion.
2026-11-14 · Evening Standard
BBC removes Room On The Broom film featuring David Walliams · assertive framing
2026-11-14 · Evening Standard
BBC removes Room On The Broom film featuring David Walliams · assertive framing
2026-11-14 · Evening Standard
BBC removes cartoon featuring David Walliams following allegations · assertive framing

Claims (25 extracted, 0 hedged)

One woman described her alleged encounter with Walliams when she was 15 as “sexual assault”, while multiple women accused him of “grooming” them when they were teenagers. asserted
they → describe → them
Walliams denies any wrongdoing. asserted
Walliams → deny → wrongdoing
Earlier in the week, the BBC said it was carrying out a review of “all material” featuring and written by Walliams on its platforms and was in the process of “removing” some. asserted
it → say → some
One such show to be removed is the animated adaptation of Room On The Broom, in which Walliams voices a frog alongside Gillian Anderson as the witch and Simon Pegg as the narrator. asserted
Walliams → remove → narrator
His character has just three lines in the 30-minute film, along with some “ribbits”. asserted
character → have → ribbits
In one line, his character says: “I am a frog, as clean as can be. asserted
I → say → line
A BBC spokesperson said: “These are serious allegations. asserted
These → say → ?
As such, the BBC is looking carefully at all material featuring and written by David Walliams on our platforms. asserted
BBC → look → platforms
We are in the process of removing some programmes, including Little Britain, whilst this review is under way.” asserted
review → remove → way
They then created and starred in Come Fly With Me, which aired on the BBC for one season in 2010. asserted
which → create → 2010
Both shows are currently unavailable on iPlayer, as is a 2020 episode of Who Do You Think You Are? featuring Walliams. asserted
You → think → Walliams
Read More Adaptations of his best-selling children’s books including Gangsta Granny and Billionaire Boy are also unavailable are on the service. asserted
Adaptations → read → service
Other broadcasters have also removed programming featuring Walliams from their streaming services. asserted
broadcasters → remove → services
Channel 4 has taken down episodes of 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown and the 2021 special Chitty Flies Again with Walliams. asserted
Chitty → take → Walliams
Sky also removed Walliams’ work from its platform and dropped the distribution of the upcoming film Fing! based on his 2019 children’s book. asserted
Sky → remove → book
In a statement, a Sky spokesperson said: “The allegations made against David Walliams are extremely serious. asserted
allegations → say → Walliams
We have notified the producers of the film of our intention to exit our position as the UK and Ireland licensee of Fing! asserted
We → notify → Fing
“We have already removed content which features him from our platforms.” asserted
which → remove → platforms
Angel Studios confirmed it would still release the film in the US, but a cameo featuring Walliams would be removed and he would not take part in its promotion. asserted
he → confirm → promotion
Walliams has not yet responded to Tuesday’s reports in The Guardian or ITV News. asserted
Walliams → respond → Guardian
But in a letter understood to have been sent several months ago to journalists working on the investigations, he denied being a “sexual predator”. asserted
he → understand → investigations
Walliams said he recognised he “behaved thoughtlessly” at times, and regretted not taking people’s feelings “properly into account”, but insisted he had not broken the law. asserted
he → say → law
The ITV and The Guardian reports about Walliams followed his unsuccessful attempts to seek an injunction to prevent the media revealing his identity – with his lawyers arguing there was a risk he would take his own life after two previous suicide attempts. asserted
he → follow → attempts
Several sources alleged inappropriate behaviour towards women at the prime-time show BGT, where Walliams served as a judge from 2012 to 2022, and at his publisher HarperCollins, which dropped him last year. asserted
which → allege → him
The allegations also led to Walliams also being dropped by his literary agency, Independent Talent Group. asserted
Walliams → lead → agency
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