David Walliams is suing the company behind Britain’s Got Talent, which he left after the leak of a transcript showing he made insulting remarks about contestants.
The comedian and children’s author, who was a judge on the show, filed papers in the High Court claiming significant damages against Fremantle, the producer.
The Brandsmiths law firm has been instructed to argue that the company is guilty of a data protection leak over the transcript, which brought to an end his decade-long stint on the ITV show, according to The Sun. Walliams, 52, quit in November last year, two weeks after details emerged of derogatory remarks he made during a break from recording Britain’s Got Talent auditions in 2020 at the London Palladium.
He was recorded calling a pensioner a “c***” and saying that another woman “is like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f*** them, but you don’t”.
Walliams said of the comments: “I would like to apologise to the people I made disrespectful comments about during breaks in filming ... These were private conversations and — like most conversations with friends — were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry.” Walliams had been named best judge at the National Television Awards three times after joining the show in 2012. He was replaced by Bruno Tonioli, a former Strictly Come Dancing judge.
Walliams found fame alongside Matt Lucas on the BBC sketch show Little Britain, which was broadcast from 2003 to 2006. He later forged a successful career as a bestselling children’s author.
“It’s crazy that he would dredge it all up again,” one ITV insider said. “Even if it is driven by him wanting to rebuild his brand and get back on television, I’m not sure that this will help.” Another added: “There will be no winners in this.”
According to the Information Commissioner’s Office, a personal data breach is defined as a security incident that has affected an individual’s confidentiality or integrity.
Walliams’s representative and lawyers did not respond to a request for comment. Fremantle declined to comment.
The row is not the only example of a so-called “hot mic” causing complications for a well-known figure. In October last year Krishnan Guru-Murthy, the Channel 4 News presenter, was taken off air for a week after he was caught saying, “What a c***,” after an interview with Steve Baker, the Northern Ireland minister.
Guru-Murthy apologised “unreservedly”, adding: “While it was not broadcast, that word in any context is beneath the standards I set myself.”
