The producer of Britain’s Got Talent has agreed an “amicable resolution” with David Walliams and said it’s “sincerely sorry that his private conversations” were leaked when he was a judge on the programme.
The comedian – who appeared on the TV show between 2012 and last year – sued Fremantle for misuse of private information and breach of data protection laws.
High Court documents released last month revealed he’d accused the company of causing him psychiatric harm and financial loss.
Walliams left the show in 2022 after apologising for “disrespectful comments” about contestants during filming breaks in January 2020 at the London Palladium.
Those remarks emerged in November last year after a transcript was leaked to The Guardian.
According to court documents, Walliams, 52, believed producers “retained transcripts… of everything he said” and that Fremantle “must be the ultimate source” of the leaks.
The star said he assumed he was only being recorded when contestants were performing or during behind-the-scenes filming.
He alleged private conversations, including him talking about food addiction problems and his father’s death, could have been recorded.
The court documents included a draft report by a retired consultant psychiatrist, Dr Mark Collins, who said the leak had “a profound, severe and, at times, very worrying effect on (Walliams’s) mental health”.
It said Walliams “is plagued by uncontrollable negative thoughts”, including “active suicidal thoughts”, and is taking medication.
Walliams also said his earnings had been “very severely reduced” due to the negative publicity around the story.
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In a statement, Fremantle said: “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.
“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 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.”
(c) Sky News 2023: David Walliams and Fremantle agree settlement over leaked Britain’s Got Talent conversations
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