David Walliams and Simon Cowell were once good friends – but that appears to have all changed now following a scandal which almost saw David cancelled.
The pair worked alongside each other on Britain’s Got Talent. In 2022, though, David was axed after 10 years. It came after he was caught expressing derogatory remarks about a contestant.
As a replacement, former Strictly panelist Bruno Tonioli stepped in for the Little Britain star and has remained on the panel since.
But it seems there could still be bad blood between David and Simon following a recent comment made by David…
Here, we take a look inside their ‘feud.’
Simon Cowell on David Walliams ‘overstepping the mark’
Things turned sour between Simon and David when the latter was axed from BGT in November 2022 after audio of him badmouthing contestants was leaked to the public.
However, years before in 2014, Simon revealed that David had sometimes gone too far with his antics on the ITV show.
“He overstepped the mark sometimes but the more I say to him to not do it, he does it even more, so it’s better to say little,” he told the Daily Mirror.
“He gets really over-excited on the live shows and says and does things he wasn’t planning, then sometimes regrets it. But he kind of makes it interesting.”
David Walliams risked being cancelled amid ‘axe’ from BGT
Fast forward to November 2022, and it emerged that David had made sexually explicit and derogatory remarks about a female Britain’s Got Talent contestant during a recording back in January 2020.
The Guardian reported that David had called an elderly contestant a rude word after they made a playful jibe at him. He is also allegedly recorded as having made sexual remarks about a woman auditioning for the show.
David apologised for his comments when they were made public and stepped down from his role as a judge. The Little Britain star reportedly earned £1.8m per season on the hit ITV show.
He said: “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.”
Simon on David’s ‘completely unacceptable’ comments
At the time, Simon attempted to distance himself from David’s exit. He told The Sun: “I didn’t really get involved in the decision. From what I understand, he decided 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 added: “We did say to the two producers: ‘You have to make the final decision.’ Because, yeah, I am an exec producer. But they’re more hands-on. Obviously everyone had some input: the network, the producers Fremantle. All of us said at the time, these comments are completely unacceptable.”
David Walliams took legal action
Following his exit from the show, David reportedly launched a lawsuit against the show’s production company in September 2023. He claimed that the audio should have never been heard.
He was also said to be seeking damages of up to £10m from Fremantle. Freemantle is the production company that makes Britain’s Got Talent.
David reportedly wanted £1m from the fee that he was due to receive from the ITV talent show. Additionally he was said to have been seeking £1.7m in lost earnings.
Furthermore, it was reported he wanted an additional £3.4m. This was to cover future losses over at least the next two years.
His lawsuit was registered under his real name – David Edward Williams. In it, David reportedly accuses Fremantle of a data protection breach, leading to the end of his career as a BGT judge.
What’s more, it was also claimed that David Walliams suffered suicidal thoughts after being dropped from BGT.
According to The Sun, court papers revealed in 2023 that David suffered “a return of severe depression, including suicidal thoughts”.
BGT’s ‘amicable resolution’ with David
However, in November 2023, it was announced that the producer of Britain’s Got Talent had reached an “amicable resolution” with David.
A Fremantle spokesperson told the PA News agency: “We are pleased that we have achieved an amicable resolution of this dispute with David. We are sincerely sorry that his private conversations when a judge on Britain’s Got Talent were published, and the great distress this caused David.”
It continued: “We have reviewed our production practices on the show to ensure they fully respect the expectations of our talent whilst satisfying the requirements of the show.
“We have enjoyed a great relationship with David over many years. We thank David for being an important part of the Britain’s Got Talent family and the enduring success of the show and hope to have opportunities to work with him in the future.”
It’s thought David had a reported multi-million pound settlement.
David’s recent on-stage swipe
More recently, David took a fresh swipe at Simon during an appearance at the Advertising Week Europe event on Tuesday (April 1).
Host Melanie Rockcliffe said: “David Walliams, you were a judge on Britain’s Got Talent for a decade and won best judge at the National TV Awards four times.”
David then quipped: “Simon Cowell never won once. That’s all he does is judging. It was a tiny part of my career. For him, it was the focus and he still couldn’t win it.”
Read more: David Walliams hits back at being ‘cancelled’ as he and Matt Lucas plug new show
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