Hind sight
David Walliams, Issue 1666

"I CAN reveal that showbusiness reporters at the Sun were told to drop negative stories about [David] Walliams because both that newspaper and HarperCollins are owned by Rupert Murdoch's News UK, even sharing offices near London Bridge," confided showbiz maven Katie Hind to Daily Mail readers on 20 December.

Hind's revelation came after the comedian and children's author was dropped by his publisher following an investigation into "inappropriate behaviour". (Walliams denies inappropriate behaviour and has said he is taking legal advice.)

She's not wrong. As the Eye has long noted, Murdoch's titles have been obliged to do PR duties for Walliams, running plugs for his kids' books disguised as news stories, special editions of the Funday Times and even Covid home- schooling resources. The most recent, a rave review of his latest tome, appeared in the Sun on 12 December.

But Hind kicked off her own piece on Walliams's downfall with an intriguing anecdote: "In July 2020, I drove up the M6 to meet a woman who had contacted me to share some worrying and bizarre experiences she had had with Britain's Got Talent judge David Walliams."

She went on to detail the young woman's experience at length. No word of this, however, appeared beneath Hind's byline in the Mail at the time. Why not?

One reason, as revealed by Hind, might be that the woman in question had received "a highly aggressive letter from Schillings, the notorious attack-dog celebrity law firm", sent on Walliams's behalf.

But the long silence over Walliams's behaviour may also have been aided by the fact that, as Eye 1563 revealed, he was one of the notorious "FOGGs", or "Friends of Geordie Greig" – who presided over the Mail on Sunday and then Daily Mail from 2012 to 2021 – about whom any unfavourable coverage was strictly verboten.

No such omertà applies now. On 23 December the online-only Independent, where Greig now serves as editor-in-chief, ran a lengthy why-oh-why piece musing: "Many have said the only surprise with the latest allegations is that, with so much scandal building over recent years, Walliams has held up as a 'national treasure' for so long. His darker side has always been visible if one looked hard enough... What is most interesting is that so many have stood by the comedian for so long."

Which, given that Walliams is also bezzies with Indy proprietor Evgeny Lebedev, whose podcast he appeared on last January to discuss "how to reverse his biological clock", must have come as a particularly bitter blow to the disgraced comic!

More top stories in the latest issue:

STIRRING THE PLOT
Donald Trump's newfound taste for military action left the Mail in almost as much of a dither as Keir Starmer, trying to face in two directions at once.

PAPER MONEY
Retch plc rejoiced at an offering from its "Content Hub" making £133 in video revenue – while the circulation figures of all its papers plummet violently.

CONTROL THE PAST
The relaunched Observer uses a George Orwell quote to set out its stall as a purveyor of truth – but is the quote itself fake news?

SHIFTING SANDS
As Reform and the Tories attacked the government over Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, the Guardian ensured the blame was shared out fairly.

NANDY PANDERING
Lord Rothermere's Mail group is keen to press ahead with its bid to buy the Telegraph, but getting culture secretary Lisa Nandy to act quickly is not easy.

OFFICER'S MESS
Sunday Times deputy political editor Harry Yorke is to become naval assistant to the First Sea Lord – who has reason to want a savvy media operator around.

BREXIT BONUS
In 2016 the Telegraph enthused over the opportunities Brexit will open up, including trade deals with Australia. Now it seems far less keen…

WRITING THE WRONGS
After years of cutting back on staff and focusing on reader-baiting and editorial wishful thinking, the Street of Shame is embroiled in a comedy of errors.