Tracy Castelino

Yesterday, over 550,000 people read my post exposing the carefully managed PR statements hiding the David Walliams scandal. Today, the cowardice of the British media establishment has reached an entirely new level. Jonathan Ross just released a public statement claiming he is horrified by the allegations against Walliams and the crimes of Russell Brand. He actually expects the public to believe he spent two decades sharing green rooms and VIP parties with these men while remaining completely blind to their behavior. Look at the exact historical record they are trying to erase right now. In 2004, Ross stood on a live stage at the British Comedy Awards and explicitly joked that the 15-year-old award was drunk and probably going home with David Walliams. There is literally a photograph from 2003 showing Ross and other elite broadcasters smiling for the camera while Walliams sits right next to them with his arm draped around a teenager he is now accused of pursuing. You do not broadcast jokes about 15-year-olds going home with a television star to millions of viewers unless the entire industry already knows exactly what the punchline means. The British entertainment industry operated as a closed protection racket for twenty years. They turned predatory behavior into profitable television ratings and laughed off the abuse as cheeky celebrity banter. These presenters are not releasing statements today because they are shocked by what Walliams and Brand actually did. They are releasing them because the expensive legal injunctions are finally failing, and they are terrified the public is coming for the enablers next.

David Walliams has just released one of the most sickeningly calculated PR statements I have ever read, and he only did it because the High Court finally threw out his expensive legal injunction to keep his name a secret. ITV and The Guardian have officially named him as the television star accused of preying on girls as young as 15. Look at the exact language his crisis managers instructed him to publish today. He claims he simply behaved "thoughtlessly" during "casual sexual relationships" and regrets not taking people's feelings into account. He admits to a power imbalance but insists he never abused it. You do not have a casual, thoughtless sexual relationship with a 15-year-old. You cannot dismiss allegations of preying on teenagers as just being a bit clumsy with women's emotions. We are watching the exact same playbook we just saw collapse in Southwark Crown Court. Another untouchable television darling, protected for decades by a complicit media, using high-priced lawyers to gag the press while trying to reframe predatory behavior as a minor lifestyle quirk. The darkest part of this entire scandal is how the British entertainment industry operates. They knew exactly who these men were. They did not just cover for them. They handed them prime-time family television slots, gave them awards, and literally published their children's books, all while leaving young girls to deal with the trauma in total silence. The expensive legal injunctions are finally failing. The dam is breaking, and the networks that enabled them are going to have nowhere left to hide.