Jess Phillips: “Dazzlingly Hard to Believe” No One Knew About Walliams – as Second Star Gets Injunction

Updated 11 Nov 2026, 16:47 · First published 11 Nov 2026

Former safeguarding minister Jess Phillips says it is “dazzlingly hard to believe” that nobody in television knew about the alleged behaviour of David Walliams – as it emerged that a second, unnamed male celebrity is reported to have a court injunction stopping allegations against him from being published.

Walliams denies all the allegations against him, including any suggestion of criminal behaviour.

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“Safeguarding is the responsibility of everybody”

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday, the Labour MP said it was “dazzlingly hard to believe that people didn’t know about this”, adding that safeguarding is “the responsibility of everybody”.

A 2019 social media post by Phillips has since resurfaced, in which she shared a photo of her children meeting Walliams as a birthday treat.

A second celebrity with an injunction

Journalist Justine Smith told the Private Eye podcast that two men in the entertainment world “can’t be named” because they have injunctions, and that both face allegations from multiple people. One injunction is said to be from recent proceedings and the other from several months ago.

Walliams also went to court to try to stop the reporting about him, but his application was refused by Mr Justice Nicklin and he did not appeal. The allegations were then published by The Guardian and ITV News.

What Walliams says

Through his lawyers, Walliams denies all the allegations, rejects any suggestion of criminal activity and says he has never groomed young women. In a statement he said: “I am not a sexual predator… I have not broken the law.”

The fallout so far

Fremantle, which makes Britain’s Got Talent, said it was “disturbed and concerned” but had never received a complaint about him. The Metropolitan Police has contacted The Guardian and ITV News about how potential victims can come forward, Walliams’ Labour Party membership has been suspended, and Downing Street has called the allegations “deeply troubling”.

If you have been affected by any of the issues in this story, the NSPCC helpline is available on 0808 800 5000.

Photo: Robert Harding Video / Shutterstock. Sources: BBC Radio 4 Today, Private Eye podcast, statements from David Walliams.