Britain’s Got Talent production company Fremantle has settled with former judge David Walliams after derogatory comments he made on the show were leaked.
In September this year, the comedian sued the production company under his real name David Edward Williams for misuse of private information and for breaching UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, saying the incident had caused him psychiatric harm and financial loss.
The two parties have now reached an ‘amicable resolution’.
Fremantle spoke about the settlement in a statement, sharing: ‘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.’
Walliams was a judge on the show between 2012 and 2022 before being replaced by Bruno Tonioli.
Walliams issued an apology for his remarks in late 2022, insisting the leaked conversations were never meant to be shared.
‘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,’ he said.
In its own statement at the time, ITV said: ‘We do not condone the language outlined in these allegations, and we have spoken to the producers of Britain’s Got Talent.
‘Duty of care towards all participants on any of our programmes is always of paramount importance and we have protocols and guidelines in place for all our production partners.’
