London’s Metropolitan Police have opened an investigation into reports of alleged non-recent serious sexual offences involving a man in his 50s. The force has not named him, but media reports identify the man as comedian and children’s author David Walliams.

Police said the reports are separate from allegations published this week by The Guardian and ITV News. Detectives are also reviewing that reporting for possible evidence of offences. The force has not disclosed the number or details of the new reports, and the sources do not report that Walliams has been charged.

Police urge anyone affected to come forward

Detective Superintendent Mike Cagney is leading the investigation. Police said specialist officers are supporting the people who made the reports and urged anyone who has experienced a sexual offence to contact them, regardless of how long ago it happened.

The investigation follows a three-year joint inquiry by The Guardian and ITV News, published on Tuesday, November 10. The outlets said they gathered accounts from 30 people who described personal experiences or behaviour they said they had witnessed involving Walliams.

Earlier allegations and denials

The media investigation reported allegations dating back to 2003. Two women, now in their 30s, said they met Walliams when they were 15 and described experiences they characterised as sexual grooming.

One woman told the outlets that Walliams contacted her on MySpace when she was 15, later met her in person and initiated sexual contact. She said she moved away and that he stopped. Walliams’s lawyers denied that grooming or sexual contact took place.

Another woman said Walliams contacted her in January 2004, when she was 15, and that they began a sexual relationship when she was 17. She described the relationship as consensual but said he was “very... insistent”. His lawyers said she had contacted him and that he believed she was 18 at the time of the alleged encounter.

The outlets also reported allegations of inappropriate behaviour at work and abuse of his position involving women connected with the television programme Britain’s Got Talent and publisher HarperCollins. They reported that some young models and fans, aged 17 to 22 at the time, received unexpected messages from him. Walliams has denied the allegations, including that he abused his position. He has said he sometimes behaved thoughtlessly towards people with whom he had casual sexual relationships and regretted that some women felt hurt or angry.

A court rejected Walliams’s attempt to prevent publication of the media investigation, allowing the reports to appear. HarperCollins said in December 2025 that it would publish no new books by him and announced a complete break with the author in September 2026. The outcome of the police investigation has not been reported.