Teaching leaders discuss removing David Walliams books after sexual misconduct allegations
Teaching leaders are discussing with the government whether schools should remove David Walliams's books after misconduct allegations he denies, while retailers say they will stop selling them.
How it was covered
- BBC Two carried 65% of the airtime and concentrated on the role-model debate and whether schools should remove Walliams books.
- BBC One concentrated on school removals, government guidance and retailers dropping Walliams books.
- Channel 5, BBC News, Channel 4, ITV and Sky News: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
David Walliams's books are being removed from some school shelves after allegations of sexual misconduct reported by the Guardian and ITV News. He denies being a sexual predator and says he has not broken any laws. He is not under police investigation.
Teaching leaders are talking to the government about whether schools should remove the books, BBC One West reported. BBC One West also reported that the Department for Education says decisions about which books remain in schools rest with individual head teachers. BBC Two reported that some libraries have said they will keep the books on their shelves.
BBC One West reported that high street retailers including Waterstones, TG Jones and The Works will no longer sell his books. It also reported that Sky has scrapped plans to release a film based on one of his stories.
BBC One West reported that a former publishing worker said she was warned about Walliams a decade ago and told not to invite him to schools. She said there had been concerns about his behaviour around young female staff.
On BBC Two's Politics Live, Steve Chalke, from the Oasis group which runs schools across England, said no child could be protected from hearing about the story. He said seeing Walliams's name or photograph on a book could be very traumatising for some children and advised schools to be cautious.
The panel was divided. A headteacher, Katharine, said Walliams was innocent until proven guilty but that she had never liked his books. Jack, another panellist, said he did not accept that people were traumatised by seeing the name of someone on the front of a book and called the removals a virtue signal. Stephen said it was natural that many schools would take the books down.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 2 channels | ||
| Several women have accused David Walliams of sexual misconduct, and he denies the allegations. | Reported by BBC One | |
| Only on one channel | ||
| A former publishing worker said she was warned a decade earlier about David Walliams's behaviour around young female staff. | Not reported by BBC Two | |
| High street retailers including Waterstones, TG Jones and The Works said they would no longer sell David Walliams's books. | Not reported by BBC Two | |
| Some schools are removing David Walliams books, while some libraries will keep them on shelves. | Not reported by BBC One | |
| Steve Chalke said some children could find seeing David Walliams's name or photograph on a school library book traumatising. | Not reported by BBC One | |
| Teaching leaders were in discussions with the government about whether schools should remove David Walliams's books. | Not reported by BBC Two | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Politics Live treated the removals as part of a wider argument about celebrity, role models and children's reading. The panel was split: a headteacher said Walliams was innocent until proven guilty but disliked his books, while another panellist dismissed the idea that seeing his name on a book was traumatising. Steve Chalke, whose Oasis group runs schools, argued that children could be traumatised and that schools should be cautious.
- “No child can be protected from hearing about the story about David Walliams.”
- “I don't accept that people are traumatised by seeing the name of someone on the front of a book.”
- “I think it's pretty natural that a lot of schools are going to take these books down.”
The bulletin focused on the practical fallout from the allegations, reporting that some head teachers have begun removing books and that teaching leaders are seeking government guidance. It added commercial detail, naming Waterstones, TG Jones and The Works as retailers that will stop selling his books, and reporting that Sky has scrapped a film adaptation. It also carried a former publishing worker's account of warnings about Walliams's behaviour around young female staff, while stating his denial and that he is not under police investigation.
- “Teaching leaders are talking to the government about whether schools should remove books written by the author and comedian David Walliams”
- “some head teachers have begun removing his books from their shelves”
- “David Walliams has denied being a sexual predator. He is not under police investigation”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.