David Walliams is suing the makers of 'Britain's Got Talent'.
The 52-year-old comedian left the talent show last November after derogatory marks he made about contestants during a break from filming auditions in January 2020 was made public, and he's now taking legal action with production company Fremantle over the leak.
According to The Sun online, the former 'Little Britain' star submitted paperwork at the High Court in London last Thursday (21.09.23), in which he accused the producers of a data protection breach over the leaked transcript.
The comic - who filed his lawsuit under his real name David Edwards Williams- is seeking damages and has hired Brandsmiths, a legal firm who specialist in data protection breaches.
Questions were raised about David's future on the show after "disrespectful comments" he made about 'BGT' contestants in a recording of an audition show at the London Palladium in January 2020 were leaked, prompting him to apologise.
According to a leaked transcript, he called one contestant a "****".
Of another, he said: "She’s like the slightly boring girl you meet in the pub that thinks you want to f*** them, but you don’t."
He reiterated: "She thinks you want to f*** her, but you don’t."
The 'Little Britain' star then added: "I know, she’s just like, ‘Oh, f*** off!’ I was saying, she thinks you want to f*** her, but you don’t. It’s the last thing on your mind, but she’s like, ‘Yep, I bet you do!’ ‘No I don’t!’ "
David insisted the conversations were "never intended to be shared", but he did issue an apology.
He said in a statement: "I would like to apologise to the people I made disrespectful comments about during breaks in filming for 'Britain’s Got Talent' in 2020. These were private conversations and - like most conversations with friends - were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry."
David, who first joined the show in 2012, was later replaced on the judging panel by Bruno Tonioli.
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