WALLIAMS IN SLEAZE BALL BACKLASH
Shops clear shelves of his books over Presidents Club role
COMIC David Walliams’ best-selling kids’ books have been ditched by stores upset at his role at the Presidents Club “Gropers’ Gala” charity ball.
COMIC David Walliams’s books have been pulled from shelves amid the mounting backlash over the so-called “Gropers Gala” charity ball.
Several independent stores removed his best-selling children’s novels from sale in protest at him hosting the sleazy Presidents Club dinner.
The Britain’s Got Talent star says he was “absolutely appalled” by the alleged sexual harassment reported at the event.
He has also withdrawn his lot from the charity auction which offered bidders the chance to name a character in his new book.
Natasha Radford, owner of the Chicken & Frog bookshop in Brentwood, Essex, said: “We are shooting ourselves in the foot because we do get a lot of parents coming in asking for Walliams’s books.
“But sometimes we have to stand up for what we believe in.”
Walliams has become a hugely successful children’s writer with his cheeky books such as Mr Stink and The Boy In The Dress. The all-male event at London’s Dorchester Hotel was last week exposed as a “meat market” where it was alleged wealthy men groped waitresses and offered them cash for sex.
But some fans have backed Walliams, who insisted he did not witness any of the sleazy goings-on.
One tweeted: “Really??? Removing David Walliams books because he was there for a short time? What has gotten into people?? Get a life.”
Another added: “This is getting ridiculous now.”
Shoppers have also now threatened to boycott online supermarket Ocado because chief executive Tim Steiner, 48, was there.
It has also emerged that billionaires, politicians and businessmen were given Harvey Weinstein-style robes as a gift at the event.
Great Ormond Street and Evelina children’s hospitals are among outraged organisations that have handed back donations.
Meanwhile, students in the US have been issued with politically correct instructions on how to how to ask for consent on the dancefloor. The scheme advises constantly checking if a partner is still up for a boogie with the lines: “Hey, are you still into this? We can stop if you aren’t!”