Walliams and Brand were leading UK comics. Now they are part of a reckoning over sexual misconduct
LONDON (AP) — British actor-comedian Russell Brand may have been sent to prison for rape and sexual assault, but the wider soul-searching over celebrities getting away with sexual misconduct in the U.K. is far from over.
A day after Brand was jailed, a second British comedian — David Walliams — was in the headlines, accused of using his fame and status to prey on young female fans, including teens, for sex.
Walliams, a feted children's author and TV personality, had sought a court injunction to block two news organizations from publishing the allegations against him. But a judge dismissed his bid last week, and the Guardian and ITN — the main news provider for ITV's news programming — on Tuesday published detailed accounts from multiple women about his alleged misconduct.
Walliams has not been charged by police with wrongdoing. But the news within the same week about the two prominent comedians — both household names in Britain known for edgy comedy, each with hugely popular shows in the 2000s and 2010s — has prompted questions about why it took so long for their stars to fall, and whether media employers like the BBC played a role in indulging or shielding celebrities' predatory behavior.
After Brand's conviction, police said they are prepared for many more potential accusers to come forward. Government officials said the case shows the entertainment and media industries need to do much more to protect women from exploitation.
Allegations against both men have swirled for years, but Brand’s conviction and the publication of the detailed claims against Walliams have led many to look back at their performances and question whether they were boundary-pushing comedy or straight-up inappropriate.
Brand, 51, was known for risqué stand-up routines and provocative behavior when he hosted television programs and his own BBC radio show. He appeared in Hollywood films including “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” and “Get Him to the Greek," and was briefly married to pop star Katy Perry.
In the past decade, he relocated to Florida and pivoted to social media, where he amassed millions of followers with videos mixing wellness, conspiracy theories and discussions of his devotion to Christianity.
Brand denied accusations from six women that he raped or sexually assaulted them, but a jury of eight men and four women found him guilty last week of attacking four of six accusers. He was sentenced Monday to 10½ years in prison for raping one woman and sexually assaulting three others.
Walliams, 55, became a national star as the co-creator of the irreverent 2000s sketch comedy show “Little Britain." The show was a huge success at the time and won multiple awards, but has since been widely criticized for racism and mocking minority and marginalized groups.
He was also for years a judge on “Britain's Got Talent," and is a bestselling children's book author with millions of sales worldwide.
On Tuesday, ITV News and the Guardian newspaper published detailed accounts from multiple women who alleged Walliams used his fame to groom them for sex when they were teens. One woman alleged he sexually assaulted her at his house when she was 15.
Walliams denied the allegations, and had applied for a court injunction to bar the media outlets from identifying him in their reporting. A judge dismissed arguments from his lawyers claiming that publication of sexual misconduct allegations would lead him to take his own life.
In light of the revelations against the comedians, attention has refocused on some of their past work.
One of them was a 2000s stage show of “Little Britain,” in which Walliams played a former children's entertainer and sex offender who touched audience members and pulled down their trousers.
In another, a TV clip from around 2006 showed Walliams and Brand joking on a talk show about how appearing gay was a “wonderful smoke screen” that “works wonderfully well.”
One of Brand's accusers has described in court how she thought he was gay and “very effeminate,” saying that was partly why she “felt sexually safe with him" before he allegedly raped her.
The BBC said Tuesday it was removing “Little Britain” and other programs featuring and written by Walliams from its platforms.
After he was convicted, police revealed that Brand is under investigation over at least two further rape allegations.
The Metropolitan Police said detectives are assessing new information after several people reached out during and since the conclusion of Brand's trial.
The head of the Metropolitan Police, Mark Rowley, said last week officers are braced for “many, many more” possible victims of Brand to come forward.
Hours after Brand was sentenced, his ex-girlfriend, Jemima Goldsmith, alleged that she had her own “personal experience of his violence, coercive control and abuse.” She said that in 2014 she had to call police to have him removed from her house during a “violent incident," but she didn't press charges because she was worried about the impact of press attention on her children.
U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledged to provide more support to victims of rape and sexual assault after Brand's sentencing. He also called the allegations against Walliams “deeply troubling."
British media reported that Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, will summon media and entertainment executives to urge them to put more robust policies in place to protect women who want to come forward with allegations against celebrities.
Although Brand's offenses took place years ago, Nandy told Sky News on Sunday that the environment in media companies has not improved.
“I can’t see what has changed in the intervening years," she said.
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