The British entertainment industry has a grotesque habit of hiding its darkest open secrets in plain sight: if you turn predatory behavior into a prime-time comedy punchline, nobody is allowed to take it seriously.
For more than twenty years, the allegations now surrounding David Walliams were not whispered in private corridors. They were scripted, rehearsed, and broadcast directly into millions of British living rooms.
Look at what major television networks actually put on air while young women were allegedly being pursued behind the scenes.
On Channel 4, Alan Carr looked him in the eye and joked that Walliams was like an illegal taxi driver who lures women into a false sense of security before pouncing.
At a television launch, Jimmy Carr joked to cameras that he was just there to meet Walliams' next conquest.
Even the BBC’s own comedy Motherland casually dropped a line about wanting to be a children's author like David Walliams, but less sinister.
And look at the defense Walliams’ lawyers gave today. They openly admitted that these comments were not insults, but jokes written and delivered by his close personal friends.
The punchlines were the shield. If the entire industry laughs about it on Friday night, anyone who raises a genuine safeguarding concern on Monday morning is dismissed as someone who simply cannot take a joke.
Now look at the actual human cost of that culture. Comedian Lucy Beaumont just broke the silence, revealing that junior television workers were being told to escort young women to Walliams' dressing room.
Why did nobody stop it? Because as Beaumont pointed out, speaking out against a bankable television star gets you immediately blacklisted from the industry.
You lose your job, you lose your commissions, and you are replaced by someone willing to keep their head down.
This was never an oversight or an unfortunate blind spot. It was a multi-million-pound commercial cartel that treated the exploitation of young women as an industry running gag, protected its most profitable talent, and ruined the careers of anyone who dared to object.
The television executives didn't fail to see what was happening. They packaged it into prime-time entertainment and sold it to the country for ratings.
Apparently there's another "high profile celebrity" facing sex allegations who's filed an injunction preventing them from being named in the media.
Anyway, it's almost Christmas.
🎶 The first Noel the angels did say..
Was to certain poor shepherds in fields as they lay...🎶
@CaraMia200 Having just returned from Guangzhou, I can confirm that pretty much every motorbike on the road was electric and probably around 80-90% of cars.
It's particularly noticeable in high traffic areas where you don't hear any engine noise (just honking) and the air quality is clean.
@hawksfanqld It was perfectly fine. Fairly modern and comfortable aircraft. No inflight entertainment - probably because it's only a short 3 and half hour flight and it would probably all be in Chinese anyway.
Price is affordable for what you get. The food is just so-so.
@clarkes@CGDay21 Having once worked in retail in my younger years, I go out of my way to be nice to people who work in retail (unless they're surly cunts) because I know just how fkn awful some people can be.
Oh and another thing. There’s an Air Marshal on EVERY China Airlines flight in and out of China. They wear a small video camera and record you as you enter the plane and then do a walk thru to ensure everyone’s behaving themselves during the flight. We need this on the bogan bus.