David Walliams has brought legal action against BGT’s producer Fremantle (Picture: Shutterstock)
Britain’s Got Talent offered David Walliams a new £1million contract despite being aware of derogatory comments he made about contestants, it has been claimed.
The Little Britain actor, 52, is suing the ITV programme’s production company, Fremantle, over an unlawful data protection breach after an expletive rant he made about a contestant was leaked.
The latest development in the bombshell case is that Fremantle was ‘fully aware of the allegations’ when it offered Walliams a new £1m contract for the 2023 season.
The comedian’s lawyer continued in High Court documents seen by The Guardian that the firm only withdrew the offer when the transcript of the rant was published.
Earlier this year, Walliams brought legal action against Fremantle for misuse of private information and for breaching UK General Data Protection Regulation (UKGDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
In a statement, Fremantle told the publication: ’We had a long and productive relationship with David and so are surprised and saddened by this legal action.
He’s claimed they were aware of his rant before offering him a new contract (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)
‘For our part, we remain available and open to dialogue to resolve this matter amicably. However, in the interim, we will examine the various allegations and are prepared to robustly defend ourselves if necessary.’
He is also accusing the company of causing him psychiatric harm and financial loss in documents seen by the PA News Agency.
The court filing states Walliams believes producers ‘retained transcripts… of everything he said’ during his time on the show and claims the defendant ‘must be the ultimate source of the transcripts’ that were leaked.
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Walliams apologised for the rant and left BGT (Picture: Dymond/Thames/Syco/Shutterstock)
According to the documents, Walliams and the other judges on the show would not usually remove their microphones until filming had ended for the day.
The comedian assumed he was only being recorded when contestants were on stage or during behind-the-scenes filming.
Walliams alleges private conversations, including him talking about his struggles with food addiction, his father’s death and his wife leaving him, could have been recorded by the production company.
Walliams was a judge on BGT for a decade (Picture: ITV)
The filing included details of a draft report by Dr Mark Collins, a retired consultant psychiatrist and practicing psychotherapist, who has treated Walliams.
It said the leak of the transcript had ‘a profound, severe and, at times, very worrying effect on [Walliams’s] mental health.’
He also said that Walliams ‘is plagued by uncontrollable negative thoughts’, including ‘active suicidal thoughts’ and revealed he is ‘on heavier doses of medication than at any time during my being his consultant psychiatrist.’
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Walliams was a judge on BGT from 2012 until 2022 after he apologised for making the ‘disrespectful comments’ about auditioning contestants during filming breaks in January 2020 at the London Palladium.
Metro.co.uk has contacted Fremantle, ITV and Walliams’ representative for comment.
Britain’s Got Talent is available to stream on ITVX.
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Walliams is suing the producer over the leaked rant.