HarperCollins is set to phase out remaining copies of David Walliams’s books after announcing last year that they would no longer publish him.
The book publisher said last year that it had dropped the children’s author following reports that he was accused of behaving inappropriately towards young women. Walliams strongly denies any claims and said at the time that he had not been informed about an investigation by HarperCollins.
HarperCollins has now confirmed that it has dropped Walliams’s backlist, according to The Bookseller. The publication reported that the publisher will gradually phase out stock of Walliams’s books in shops as well as e-book and audio versions available online.
The Independent has contacted Walliams and HarperCollins for comment.
HarperCollins has published all 23 of the children’s books written by Walliams, beginning with 2008’s The Boy in the Dress, as well as his short story collections and picture books. They’ve sold over 60 million copies worldwide, while six of them have been adapted for TV.
Those titles – which include bestsellers Mr Stink, Gangsta Granny and Ratburger – have since disappeared from the HarperCollins website, along with his author page.
In December, HarperCollins announced that “after careful consideration, and under the leadership of its new CEO”, it would not be publishing any new titles by Walliams. It came after The Telegraph reported that a complaint from a junior colleague about his conduct lead to other staff members being interviewed and subsequently, he was dropped.
Former employees alleged to the publication that they were advised not to visit his home and to work in pairs when meeting with him.
A spokesperson for Harper Collins said at the time: “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.”
Walliams denied the allegations of inappropriate behaviour, with a spokesperson for him saying in a statement: “David has never been informed of any allegations raised against him by HarperCollins. He was not party to any investigation or given any opportunity to answer questions. David strongly denies that he has behaved inappropriately and is taking legal advice.”
Days later, the Waterstones Children’s Book Festival axed him from its line-up following HarperCollins’s move.
The actor and comedian rose to fame in the early noughties alongside Matt Lucas with their BBC sketch comedies Little Britain and Come Fly with Me. He became a judge on Britain’s Got Talent in 2012, staying in the role for 10 years but left after a leaked transcript revealed obscene comments he’d made about contestants.
The transcript, leaked to The Guardian in 2022, revealed that during an audition at the London Palladium two years earlier, he called one contestant a “c***” and said of another: “She thinks you want to f*** her, but you don’t.”
At the time, he apologised for the “disrespectful comments” and said that they were part of a private conversation which was “never intended to be shared”. He later sued BGT’s production company FremantleMedia for the leaking of the private remarks, with the matter being settled in November 2023.
