Jonathan Ross has broken his silence on both the recent rape conviction of disgraced comedian, Russell Brand, and the allegations made against David Walliams.
This comes after footage of a joke made by Ross about Walliams and 15 year olds at the 2004 British Comedy Awards had resurfaced online.
55 year old David Walliams has been hit with allegations of sexual misconduct, which including the grooming of teenage girls as young as 15 years of age, and abusing his position to pursue women.
He was also named as the subject of a joint investigation by ITV News and The Guardian, after he reportedly had unsuccessfully attempted to obtain an injunction to prevent the publication of these accusations against him.
The former Britain's Got Talent judge and best selling author has denied all allegations.
Jonathan Ross was pictured alongside David Walliams at a event, which was attended by one of the women who later accused Walliams of misconduct. The photograph of Ross and Walliams featured in the investigation's ITV documentary, David Walliams: Power and Silence.
Now, Jonathan Ross has released a statement to the Press Association, saying that he was "horrified" by the recent revelations regarding David Walliams.
“I am as horrified by the revelations about David Walliams and the crimes of Russell Brand as the rest of the nation", Ross said. “There was a time in my life when I was on friendly terms with both men, and during that period I was genuinely unaware of their conduct.
“My thoughts are with the many, many women who have bravely come forward".
Elsewhere, Jonathan Ross also faced criticism over his previous links to the recently convicted Russell Brand, who was sentenced to ten and a half years for rape and sexual assault this week. The incidents occurred between the period of 2004 and 2009.
Brand was found guilty of raping one woman, and sexually assaulting three others, while being acquitted of another count of rape and one of indecent assault.
Jonathan Ross had worked on several television shows with Brand, and also featured on his BBC Radio 2 show in 2008, where the pair became embroiled in the "Sachsgate" scandal, which saw the pair leave a voicemail to Fawlty Towers star, Andrew Sachs, where they made lurid and explicit remarks about his granddaughter, Georgina Baillie.
Ross also addressed the controversial joke he made about David Walliams in 2004.
“I recognise how deeply shocking it is to revisit footage of a joke delivered by me at the Comedy Awards in 2004, in which I make light of the notion of Walliams going home with a 15-year-old.
“This joke was submitted to me by the Comedy Awards script writing team and I believed that the punchline was a reference to the fact he had publicly dated younger women, exaggerated for comic effect.
“It is also a tasteless joke that I would not dream of making today about anyone, but that is beside the point", he continued.
“Had I had any reason to suspect that it might be referring to actual events, I would not only have refused to use it, but I would not have felt comfortable continuing a personal or professional relationship with him".
“I also like to think that I would have acted upon that knowledge".
In other news, comedian Jimmy Carr was heavily criticised over his recent joke about Russell Brand's rape conviction, with some people accusing him of "cashing in" on the issue.
Find out more on this story here.
