Sales of David Walliams’ books dropped 30% overall in the last two weeks of 2025, and were down 19% year on year, according to NielsenIQ BookData. It is estimated that the 30% drop represents approximately 15,000 units.
The decrease came in the two weeks that followed an article in the Telegraph, which revealed he had been “dropped” by HarperCollins following an investigation by the Telegraph that uncovered internal allegations of “inappropriate behaviour”. Walliams has strongly denied the allegations.
During 2025, Walliams’ sales were already tracking down: up until the middle of October, his volume sales were 13.6% down against the same period in 2024.
Walliams’ latest title, Santa & Son, was published on 23rd October 2025. In the eight subsequent weeks, his sales were consistently up year on year – a total of 11.2% across the eight weeks – before dropping 19.2% in the last two weeks of the year (marking the 30% swing overall).
Additionally, in the first week of 2026, the author’s sales have been down 41.5% compared to the same week in 2025.
On 19th December 2025, the Telegraph reported that Walliams had been dropped by HarperCollins over alleged inappropriate behaviour towards junior female employees at the publisher. He was also withdrawn from the line-up of Waterstones Children’s Book Festival.
In its statement, which followed an investigation, HarperCollins said: “After careful consideration, and under the leadership of its new CEO, HarperCollins UK has decided not to publish any new titles by David Walliams. The author is aware of this decision.
“HarperCollins takes employee wellbeing extremely seriously and has processes in place for reporting and investigating concerns. To respect the privacy of individuals we do not comment on internal matters.”
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