David Walliams deserves the presumption of innocence

I don’t care whether you like David Walliams or not, the way he has been treated is wrong. Last week, the comedian and children’s author was dumped by his publisher, HarperCollins, following allegations of inappropriate behaviour by younger female colleagues. The BBC then announced this week that it had cut ties with Walliams, and it is currently under pressure to remove his upcoming appearance on Would I Lie to You?, and to cancel two TV adaptations of his children’s books. In other words, Walliams has had his life effectively destroyed on the basis of those allegations alone, with barely a nod to a fair hearing. We have seen this process repeat itself over and over again. Seemingly, no lessons have been learned.

Walliams may indeed be guilty of the things he has been accused of. He could well be bang to rights. But it is a basic principle of fairness that he should be allowed to put his version of events forward before everybody rushes to judgement. People say the presumption of innocence should only be followed in legal trials. But it is fundamental in ordinary life as well. After all, lives and careers can be destroyed outside of the courtroom, too.

In many parts of the world there is no presumption of innocence, no chance of a fair hearing. We should be fortunate that we usually do have this, and remember why it is so important. It is a way of thinking that emerged through centuries of legal argument as a powerful counter to the trials of earlier periods where an accused person – say, a witch – would have to prove her innocence, not the other way around. The presumption of innocence is a vital bulwark against both the tyranny of the mob and excessive government power.

Of course, we live in a very different time, and Walliams does not face anything like the deadly consequences of those actual witch-hunts of the past. But there is a similar atmosphere now of hysteria and finger-pointing. There is the same desire to humiliate and ruin.

Walliams, for what it’s worth, has flatly denied the accusations. He said he was never informed of any complaint, let alone given the chance to respond. Those who know Walliams or who have worked with him might scoff at my naivety. But I am not proclaiming that his innocence is certain, merely insisting that a decent society should pause for thought before destroying a man’s life. The dignity of the individual is the bedrock of any just, democratic society.

We are thankfully no longer at the heights of the #MeToo frenzy, in which so many prominent men were accused of inappropriate behaviour and hounded out of public life. But there is still a residual suspicion of men, and even young boys, a pernicious belief that they need to be educated out of their inherent sexism and woman-hating.

We witnessed an example of this just last week, when the UK’s Labour government announced that it will be introducing anti-misogyny courses in schools to boys as young as 11. Keir Starmer wrote on X this week that he wants his daughter to ‘feel safe in school, online and in relationships’. This has provoked an understandable backlash from parents of boys who feel their children are being unfairly maligned at such a young age.

Former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor has written and spoken powerfully of what it is like to be presumed guilty. In 2015, he became one of the high-profile victims of the serial liar Carl Beech, who named Proctor as a key perpetrator in a non-existent paedophile ring. Proctor wrote on spiked earlier this year:

‘Trial by media now carries the weight of conviction. The ancient principle of “innocent until proven guilty” has been abandoned. It is an inversion of justice that would have made even Pontius Pilate blanch.’

We must resist the pull of another moral panic, where accusations alone are damning and sadism masquerades as virtue. If we do not restrain the excesses of cancel culture, fairness and reason will be the first casualties. No one will be safe from the next wave of condemnation. There is far more at stake here than the career of David Walliams.

Candice Holdsworth is a writer. Visit her website here.