David Walliams is allegedly suing the producers of Britain’s Got Talent after he was fired from the show after an expletive-laced rant he gave against a contestant was leaked.
The 52-year-old comedian and children’s book is reportedly suing for’significant damages’ after leaving the talent competition in November and being replaced by Bruno Tonioli.
For the most current season, Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, and Alesha Dixon returned to the show without the Little Britain star, and while there has been extensive conjecture as to why he departed the show, there has never been any official confirmation.
Prior to the commencement of auditions, Walliams faced backlash as leaked tapes revealed his caustic statements about hopefuls.
He apologised for his offensive comments, stating: ‘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.’
It has now been claimed that Walliams ‘is going to war’ with the production company behind Britain’s Got Talent.
The Sun reports that Walliams ‘lodged papers at London’s High Court last Thursday,’ and accused Fremantle of ‘a data protection breach over the leaked transcript’.
Simon, who is both a producer and a panellist on the show, later addressed Walliams’ statements, calling them “unacceptable and upsetting.”
‘I didn’t really get engaged in the decision,’ the media mogul previously told The Sun. ‘According to my understanding, he opted to take a step back.
‘It all happened relatively quickly. I was on holiday and then the next thing is I’m having conversations about who’s going to take his place.’
He noted that he told ‘the two producers’ to ‘make the final decision’, noting they are ‘more hands on’ with that side of the production.
‘Obviously everyone had some input — the network, the producers Fremantle, all of us said at the time, these comments are completely unacceptable,’ he said. ‘I had not heard them before and, yeah, it was upsetting.’
However, Simon noted that the comments were not a ‘constant,’ and that the Little Britain star appeared’very respectful’ of the participants.
‘But from where I’m sitting, this wasn’t something I believe was constant,’ he said. ‘Most of the time David seemed very respectful and emotional about the contestants and was doing everything that a judge should be doing on a show like this.’
Meanwhile, new judge Bruno previously revealed that David was among the first to congratulate him on his new role, as he told Radio Times: ‘I haven’t seen David, but he was the first person to send me a message saying congratulations.
‘He also sent a fantastic bottle of Italian wine to my dressing room on my first day. I thought that was absolute class.’
Britain’s Got Talent is available to watch on ITVX.
Source My Celebrity Life.
