David Walliams, 55, had been appearing on BBC One’s 2015 Comic Relief telethon and sat in a chair as women and men queued up either side to kiss him on his cheeks
A clip of David Walliams trying to break a world record for being kissed the most amount of times in 30 seconds has gone viral following allegations of misconduct against the commedian.
Walliams, 55, had been appearing on BBC One’s 2015 Comic Relief telethon and sat in a chair as women and men queued up either side to kiss him on his cheeks. Wearing red boots, a sleeveless sports top and shorts, Walliams grimaced as Davina McCall held his head in place.
Walliams broke the Guinness World Record by receiving 55 kisses in 30 seconds with Orlando Bloom ending the challenge by kissing him on the lips.
The clip of the stunt has resurfaced after Walliams was yesterday accused of allegedly using his status as a celebrity to prey on vulnerable teenagers and young women for sex, which he vehemently denies.
Social media users on X have not reacted well to the clip, with one writing: “What the heck?”
While another commented: “First time seeing this, so in 2015 everybody involved and watching this didn’t have an issue with it?”
A third raged: “How does s*** like this end up on TV?”
As of writing this, the clip is still available on the BBC’s official YouTube page after it was posted 11 years ago.
It comes after Walliams was named for the first time yesterday as the celebrity who tried to stop two media organisations from publishing allegations against him.
The former Little Britain and Britain’s Got Talent star, brought legal action against Independent Television News (ITN) and Guardian News and Media (GNM), publisher of The Guardian.
The court heard they intended to report his alleged “abuse of power and status” to contact young women and try to engage in “inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities”.
Walliams, who has always denied the claims, was seeking an injunction to prevent this broadcast and publication because of a risk that he would take his own life, following two previous suicide attempts.
Among his former showbiz pals to speak out has been Jonathan Ross, who said he was “horrified” over the allegations as well as Russell Brand’s rape conviction.
TV host Ross, 65, said that he was “genuinely unaware of their conduct” after at one point being genuinely friendly with both men.
Ross said: “I am as horrified by the revelations about David Walliams and the crimes of Russell Brand as the rest of the nation.
“There was a time in my life when I was on friendly terms with both men, and during that period I was genuinely unaware of their conduct. My thoughts are with the many, many women who have bravely come forward.”
Another clip that has gone viral in the wake of the allegations is Ross’ joke at a 2004 awards show in which he quipped: “The comedy awards is 15 years old – 15 years old! And like most 15 year olds, it’s drunk, it’s unpredictable and it’s probably going home with David Walliams.”
However, he claimed that he didn’t write the joke himself and said: “I recognise how deeply shocking it is to revisit footage of a joke delivered by me at the Comedy Awards in 2004, in which I make light of the notion of Walliams going home with a 15 year old.
“This joke was submitted to me by the Comedy Awards script writing team and I believed that the punchline was a reference to the fact he had publicly dated younger women, exaggerated for comic effect.
“It is also a tasteless joke that I would not dream of making today about anyone, but that is beside the point.
“Had I had any reason to suspect that it might be referring to actual events, I would not only have refused to use it, but I would not have felt comfortable continuing a personal or professional relationship with him.”
He concluded: “I also like to think that I would have acted upon that knowledge.”
An investigation by ITV News and the Guardian claims that he abused his power and position for sexual purposes on a multiple occasions with teenagers and other women.
In response, Walliams denies any wrongdoing and said he’s ‘devastated’ by the claims.
He sent a letter to journalists working on this investigation and wrote: “Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with.
“I realise I did not always take people’s feelings properly into account. That is something I regret. And whilst a power imbalance is inevitable when one party is famous, abusing that power is something else entirely and it is something that I never did.”
He added: “I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law, but I am devastated that some of the women I met 10 to 20 years ago have now expressed hurt or anger towards me.”
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