David Walliams suffers major setback over alleged ‘inappropriate conduct'

David Walliams suffers major setback over alleged 'inappropriate conduct' David Walliams' back catalogue has been dropped by the publisher HarperCollins following claims of 'inappropriate conduct.' The comedian and a former judge on the TV talent show, Britain's Got Talent, became a household name in the early 2000s thanks to his sitcom Little Britain. He published his first children's book in 2008 and wrote 23 in total. HarperCollins published all of the books, which collectively sold over 60 million copies worldwide. Meanwhile, several of the stories have been adapted for TV. The publishing house initially dropped Walliams last year following misconduct, but, as per The Bookseller, will no longer represent his backlist. The publisher will gradually phase out stock of Walliams's books in shops, as well as e-book and audio versions available online. This stemmed from an investigation carried out by The Telegraph, which claimed that Walliams had been accused of harassing junior female employees at the publishing house. The investigation alleged that one employee agreed to a financial settlement and the publisher advised staff not to visit Walliams at home and to work in pairs. Last year, they decided to halt the release of any new titles from the author, sharing, 'After careful consideration, and under the leadership of its new CEO, HarperCollins UK has decided not to publish any new titles by David Walliams. The author is aware of this decision.' The spokesperson continued, 'HarperCollins takes employee wellbeing extremely seriously and has processes in place for reporting and investigating concerns. To respect the privacy of individuals, we do not comment on internal matters.' However, at the time, Walliams' spokesperson denied the claims, revealing that the writer had never been 'informed of any allegations raised against him', and was not given any opportunity to answer questions. 'David strongly denies that he has behaved inappropriately and is taking legal advice.'