David Walliams is reportedly suing bosses at Britain's Got Talent and seeking "significant damages" after he was allegedly forced to resign from the ITV talent show in November 2022.
The actor, TV star and children's books author was a fixture on BGT for more than a decade, having joined the judging panel in 2012.
David, 52, was axed from the series over X-rated comments he made about a contestant on the show.
Upon announcing his departure, the star said in a statement that he felt it was “time to move on and focus on his other projects”, but it came soon after he made a public apology.
Audio was leaked showing David making X-rated comments about contestants on the show.
The Sun have reported that David is "going to war" with Fremantle, the production company above Britain's Got Talent, and claimed that he lodged papers at London's High Court last Thursday, 21st September.
OK! have contacted a representative for David for comment on the reports, as well as the team at Fremantle.
The publication went on to claim that David's lawyers argued at the time that the comments he made were part of "private conversations" and were "never intended" to be broadcast.
One of the comments, leaked in a transcript, saw him call one elderly contestant "a c***" three times.
He was also alleged to have said of another female contestant: "She thinks you want to f*** her, but you don't."
These comments were picked up on a microphone during a break on one of the ITV show's London auditions.
The cast and crew were filming at the London Palladium in January 2020 at the time.
Despite David's team's arguments, which followed the comments being made public at the end of 2022, the star stepped down from his long-term role on the show two weeks later.
"I would like to apologise to the people I made disrespectful comments about during breaks in filming for Britain's Got Talent in 2020," he said at the time.
"These were private conversations and – like most conversations with friends – were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry."
According to The Sun, David, who lodged the papers under his real name David Edward Williams, is accusing Fremantle of a "data protection breach" over the leaked transcript.
He is reported to have hired law firm Brandsmiths, a team who specialise in data protection breaches.
Source: Read Full Article