David Walliams Nazi salute 'unacceptable', BBC says

The BBC has said it was "unacceptable" for David Walliams to make two Nazi salutes during a recording of comedy panel show Would I Lie To You? this week.

The comedian and children's author made the gestures during a segment in which a fellow panellist discussed a story about injuring their wrist while waving.

Walliams reportedly joined in with increasingly vigorous waves, which culminated in him holding out his arm in a Nazi salute.

The show's production company and the BBC both described the gestures as "completely unacceptable" and said the segment would not be broadcast.

BBC News has asked representatives for Walliams for comment.

The former Britain's Got Talent judge was on the panel for the BBC One show's Christmas special, which was recorded at Pinewood Studios on Tuesday.

Journalist Sebastian Topan, who was in the audience, contacted the BBC to describe what happened.

One part of the show saw Call The Midwife actress Helen George, who took part in Strictly Come Dancing in 2015, being given a prompt to suggest she had sprained her wrist "from waving too much during the Strictly tour".

She then had to try to convince the opposing team that her anecdote was true.

After demonstrating the wave, which purportedly left her with an injury, she was told that it was "too little" and was encouraged to make a bigger gesture.

"Some other panellist was talking when David Walliams started doing the Nazi salute," Topan told the BBC. "I was shocked at what I had seen."

There were "patches of quietened gasps and awkward half-laughs and broken clapping" in the audience, they said.

The show's host, Gavin & Stacey star Rob Brydon, then told Walliams the show would be broadcast before the 9pm watershed, effectively suggesting his behaviour was not suitable for a family TV audience.

However, as the discussion about George's experience continued, Walliams made the gesture again, adding a sexual gesture with his other hand.

It's understood the exchange landed awkwardly in the studio. "The atmosphere was uncomfortable and weird," Topan said.

"I think Rob Brydon wanted to get past it as quickly as he could. David Walliams' team-mates looked unsure what to do and were not laughing... It was like an elephant in the room after that as the incident was early on in the recording and so the remainder of the show felt weird."

After the recording, a different member of the audience posted on X: "I didn't have David Walliams doing a Nazi salute at the Would I Lie To You? Christmas taping on my 2025 bingo card."

A spokesperson for Banijay UK, which owns the show's production company Zeppotron, said: "Any attempt at humour regarding this deeply offensive gesture, whether broadcast or not, is completely unacceptable in any context.

"It was immediately acknowledged during the recording that this segment would not be broadcast under any circumstances and we apologise to those who were at the recording for any offence caused."

A BBC spokesperson said: "The use of such an offensive gesture is completely unacceptable and we apologise to all at the recording for the offence caused."

Walliams, who also hosts a podcast with his former Little Britain co-star Matt Lucas, has not appeared on terrestrial television since 2022.

He left his role as a judge on ITV show Britain's Got Talent that year after an audio recording of him making insulting comments about contestants were made public.