Summary
Overview
Marina Hyde and Richard Osman discuss three major entertainment topics: David Walliams being dropped by HarperCollins over alleged inappropriate behavior with female staff, a comprehensive poll revealing Britain's definitive national treasures (with David Attenborough topping every list), and the explosive growth of video podcasts as Netflix and other platforms invest heavily in the format.
David Walliams Dropped by HarperCollins
HarperCollins has dropped hugely successful children's author David Walliams following allegations of inappropriate behavior with female staff members. The Telegraph broke the story, but notably it contains no anonymized accounts from the alleged victims themselves. Walliams denies all allegations and claims none were ever put to him by HarperCollins. The timing coincides with a sudden CEO change at HarperCollins, raising questions about whether this was an internal investigation or cover-up.
- David Walliams accounted for 44% of HarperCollins' entire children's book sales in 2018
- HarperCollins was actively promoting his Santa and Son book before suddenly dropping him the next day
- The Telegraph story alleges one woman left with a five-figure payout and that female employees were advised to work in pairs and not visit his home
- The Telegraph story contains no anonymized accounts from the women involved, only 'well-placed sources'
- Charlie Redmayne, former CEO of HarperCollins, left very suddenly in October with no reason given
- Kate Elton became interim CEO in October, and the official statement emphasized the decision was made 'under the leadership of its new CEO'
" If that is true in 2024 or 2025, that a corporation put those measures in place, then, oh, dear me, because I'm not quite sure who you're protecting there. It seems much more like you're protecting your very lucrative author than you are protecting yourself. "
" There is a much, much easier way of protecting your staff, which is to remove the source of the issues. "
" In my view, you don't have an internal investigation. You have what many other people would class as an internal cover up, because that is not the proper way to run an investigation of anything to say, oh, you know, see each other in pairs don't go to his house and we're not going to put the allegations to you. "
Britain's National Treasures: The Definitive List
More in Common conducted comprehensive polling to determine who Britain considers national treasures. David Attenborough emerged as the undisputed number one across every demographic, political party, age group, and region. Only seven people achieved over 50% recognition as national treasures, and remarkably, not a single person in the top 10 is under 75 years old. The entire top 10 consists of knights and dames, showing the honors system accurately reflects public sentiment.
- David Attenborough is number one on every single list regardless of age, region, or political persuasion
- The top seven with over 50% recognition are all over 75 years old: Mary Berry (7), Trevor McDonald (6), Joanna Lumley (5), Paul McCartney (4), Elton John (3), Judi Dench (2), Attenborough (1)
- Every single person in the top 10 is either a knight or dame
- J.K. Rowling is the first person on the list (at number 11) who is not a Sir or Dame
- Martin Lewis and Dawn French also score 43%, just outside the top 10
- Reform would win elections with fans of Mary Berry, Judi Dench, David Beckham, Paul McCartney, Elton John, and David Attenborough
- Labour would win with fans of Gary Lineker, Adele, Ed Sheeran, Simon Cowell, and Alison Hammond
- If Britons could only choose one national treasure, 44% would choose David Attenborough
" The only thing that half of the people in this country agree on isn't that absolutely extraordinary. "
" National treasures have to represent in our version of it something about our idealized sense of ourselves and they either reflect British values or British humor or in their part of shared national memory. "
" David Beckham gets on because of Q... Judy Dench gets on the list because she was M and David Beckham gets on because of Q. "
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