Alex had just returned from school and was watching The Simpsons in her bedroom when the phone rang.
asserted
phone → return → bedroom
She distinctly recalls the first thing he said.
asserted
he → recall → thing
“Hi, it’s David Walliams.
asserted
it → ’ → ?
You know, off the telly!”
asserted
You → know → telly
Alex was 15 and studying for her GCSEs.
asserted
Alex → study → GCSEs
Walliams was 32 and a rising star with the comedy sketch show Little Britain.
asserted
Walliams → rise → show
A few days earlier, Alex had been to a fan event where Walliams had signed autographs as his character Lou.
asserted
Walliams → sign → character
Wearing a frizzy wig and a black leather jacket, he looked up at Alex as her mother took a photograph.
asserted
mother → wear → photograph
As she approached Walliams, Alex remembers him saying: “You’re a very attractive lady.”
asserted
You → approach → Walliams
With ambitions of becoming a comedy writer, Alex says she gave him some printouts of scripts she had written.
asserted
she → become → scripts
She included a cover letter with her contact details, but she did not expect him to get in touch.
asserted
him → include → touch
When he did, she was so excited that immediately after the call she made a record of the conversation in youthful scrawl across four sides of A4 paper.
asserted
she → do → paper
“David Walliams phoned me!!” she wrote.
asserted
she → phone → me
“He said he thought my scripts are VERY FUNNY!”
asserted
scripts → say → ?
She noted how Walliams had been surprised when she told him she was still at school, asking her: “Right, so you’re, what, 15, 16?”
asserted
you → note → her
The notes describe how they talked about her exams, as well as the enticing possibility of him getting tickets for her to watch a live performance of Little Britain.
asserted
her → describe → Britain
At the end of the call, he told her to stay in touch.
asserted
he → tell → touch
He gave her his email address after she reassured him she would not pass it on to anyone.
asserted
she → give → anyone
“He said that he trusts me,” she wrote.
asserted
she → say → me
Over the next two years, Alex says, she and Walliams spoke on the phone on a couple of occasions and exchanged multiple emails.
asserted
she → say → emails
She was amazed that a rising star of the comedy world was suggesting he could help her.
uncertain
he → rise → her
By the time she was 17, she says, they were having sex.
asserted
they → say → sex
Alex is one of multiple women who allege Walliams abused his power and position as a celebrity to prey on them for sexual purposes when they were teenagers or young women, an investigation by the Guardian and ITV News has found.
asserted
investigation → allege → Guardian
Some, like Alex, say their interactions with Walliams were traumatising and have requested that pseudonyms be used to protect their anonymity.
asserted
pseudonyms → say → anonymity
Most say they were over 18 when they had interactions with Walliams.
asserted
they → say → Walliams
But a woman whom the Guardian is calling Jade alleges that, like Alex, she met him when she was 15.
asserted
she → call → him
She says that weeks after he first made contact, he invited her to his house and initiated sexual contact.
asserted
he → say → contact
The allegations extended to his conduct in the workplace, with several sources describing inappropriate behaviour towards women at both the prime-time show Britain’s Got Talent (BGT) and his publisher HarperCollins.
asserted
sources → extend → show
In September, HarperCollins announced it would no longer publish Walliams’ extensive back catalogue, having dropped its bestselling author last year.
asserted
it → announce → author
Few reasons were given for the seismic move.
asserted
reasons → give → move
The Guardian and ITV News can now reveal that the publisher severed ties with the star author after concerns were raised about his behaviour over several years, including an allegation that he had inappropriate sexual relationship with a junior female employee and pursued another.
asserted
he → reveal → another
Walliams denies any wrongdoing.
asserted
Walliams → deny → wrongdoing
Earlier this year his lawyers took a case to the high court to try to stop the allegations being published.
asserted
allegations → take → court
The case was dismissed, so now the women’s stories can be revealed.
asserted
stories → dismiss → ?
In a letter addressed to journalists working on this investigation, Walliams wrote: “Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with.
asserted
I → address → relationships
“I realise I did not always take people’s feelings properly into account.
asserted
I → realise → account
That is something I regret.
asserted
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
asserted
I → abuse → that
He added: “I am not a sexual predator.
asserted
I → add → ?
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.”
asserted
I → break → me
…and 459 more, not listed.
The Aporia
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