Concerns about bestselling children’s author David Walliams were reportedly circulating within Britain’s publishing industry more than a decade before the latest allegations against him became public. Author and columnist Chloe Combi has claimed that she was warned about his behaviour towards young female staff as early as 2015, raising questions about how concerns involving prominent literary figures were handled.
Speaking to BBC News, Combi said she had heard rumours about Walliams long before a joint investigation by The Guardian and ITV News brought allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse of power into public view. Walliams has denied the allegations.
Chloe Combi Recalls A Warning From 2015
Combi said she was attending publishing events while promoting her own work and running a programme that invited prominent writers and speakers to schools. During a conversation with a senior publishing figure in 2015, she was reportedly advised against inviting Walliams to participate in the programme. According to Combi, the individual also suggested warning teachers and headteachers that he was unsuitable for school appearances.
When Combi asked for an explanation, she was told there were concerns about his conduct towards young female employees.
Combi described those concerns as widely discussed within certain professional circles, claiming she had encountered similar accounts from people working in publishing, television and entertainment. However, she acknowledged that she had never personally met Walliams and that her information came from conversations with others.
Allegations Against David Walliams
Combi’s comments follow an investigation published on 10 November 2026. Several women accused Walliams of inappropriate sexual conduct and exploiting his celebrity status. Two women alleged that they first encountered him when they were 15. Other allegations concerned his interactions with young women connected to television and publishing, including employees at HarperCollins.
Walliams has rejected accusations of grooming, sexual harassment and abusing his position. In his response to the investigation, he acknowledged that he had sometimes behaved thoughtlessly in casual relationships but maintained that he had never exploited his celebrity status or broken the law. The allegations have not been established in court.
HarperCollins Ends Publishing Relationship
The controversy has also drawn attention toHarperCollins, which published Walliams’s commercially successful children’s books. In December 2025, the publisher announced that it would no longer release new titles by the author following reports of an internal investigation into alleged inappropriate behaviour involving female employees.
In September 2026, HarperCollins also stopped publishing his back catalogue. The company has stated that employee safety and wellbeing remain important priorities. The consequences have extended beyond his publisher. Waterstones has announced plans to return remaining stock, while The Works and TGJones have removed his books from sale. The British Book Awards have also withdrawn the Children’s Fiction Book of the Year award presented to Walliams in 2019 for The Ice Monster.
Questions For The Publishing Industry
Walliams, whose books include ‘The Boy in the Dress’ and ‘Gangsta Granny’, became one of Britain’s most commercially successful children’s authors after establishing his television career.
Combi’s account adds another dimension to the controversy by suggesting that warnings were being shared informally years before the allegations received widespread public attention. Her claims have not independently established what individual publishers knew at the time.
The unfolding controversy leaves the publishing industry confronting a broader question about professional accountability: whether informal warnings can protect vulnerable people, and what institutions should do when concerns about powerful individuals emerge.
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