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Sales of David Walliams books plummet 30% since allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women

The Little Britain star's children's books are struggling since he was axed by HarperCollins last month over claims he had harassed female employees at the company.

[ David Walliams attends a performance of "Awful Auntie" at Richmond Theatre on May 09, 2024 in Richmond, England.]

Mr Walliams has been dropped by his publisher(Image: Getty Images)

Sales of David Walliams books have plummeted 30% since he was dropped by his publisher amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women.

The star of TVs Little Britain and Come Fly With Me was axed by HarperCollins last month over claims he had harassed female employees at the company.

The Children's Trust said the 54-year-old former Britains Got Talent judge had been dropped as an ambassador for the charity while the BBC said they had no future projects in the pipeline for him.

Walliams has strongly denied the allegations.

[David Walliams on Would I Lie To You]

David Walliams has sold nearly 26million books (Image: BBC)

He is one of the most successful authors since accurate records began having sold nearly 26m books for 153m since releasing his debut The Boy in the Dress in 2008.

Only three other authors Harry Potter creator JK Rowling, The Gruffalo writer Julia Donaldson and celebrity chef Jamie Oliver - have raked in more money in recent years.

But sales of Walliamss works dropped 30% in the last two weeks of 2025, according to NielsenIQ BookData.

That equates to a fall in sales of around 15,000 books.

For eight weeks following the publication of his latest title Santa & Son in October his sales had been up 11.2% year-on-year.

But they plunged 19.2% in the fortnight after the allegations emerged - making a 30% downward swing overall.

In the first week of this year his sales have been down 41.5% compared to the same week in 2025.

[David Walliams holding copies of his books Awful Auntie and The First Hippo on the Moon]

Sales of Walliamss works dropped 30% in the last two weeks of 2025(Image: Getty Images)

In its statement which followed an investigation HarperCollins UK said it had decided not to publish any new titles by David Walliams.

The author is aware of this decision, the publisher said.

HarperCollins takes employee wellbeing extremely seriously and has processes in place for reporting and investigating concerns.

To respect the privacy of individuals we do not comment on internal matters.

At the time a spokesman for Walliams said he had never been informed of any allegations raised against him by his publisher, adding: He was not party to any investigation or given any opportunity to answer questions.

David strongly denies that he has behaved inappropriately and is taking legal advice.

[Britains Got Talent auditions London]

David Walliams at Britain's Got Talent auditions in London in 2022(Image: PA Archive)

According to trade publication The Bookseller HarperCollins will continue publishing the authors backlist titles.

Tom Gatti, former editor of The New Statesman, forecast Walliamss decline as a childrens author in 2023.

He said it was unsurprising his books had been a hit with youngsters as they were easy to read, full of bodily functions, familiar tropes and lavish, lively illustrations.

The reason why they are a phenomenon, though, has little to do with talent and much to do with the market, he added.

But the recent trajectory has been downwards.

Although The Worlds Worst Monsters went straight to No1 in the UK chart it sold half as many copies in its first week as The Worlds Worst Pets did in 2022 and neither came near Walliamss pre-pandemic heights.

Might his appeal be finally waning?

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