Richard Osman has spoken about feeling shame over television culture while reflecting on his past work with David Walliams.
The 55-year-old discussed the 1990s and 2000s on The Rest Is Entertainment podcast, which he co-hosts with Marina Hyde.
The discussion covered sexual misconduct allegations against Walliams, who has denied wrongdoing.
Richard Osman reflects on television culture
Richard discussed how men who worked in 1990s and 2000s television might feel about that period. He said they could feel “some sense of shame about what has happened”.
He described this as “a sin of omission”, pointing to a failure to understand the need for safer workplaces.
Looking back, he questioned why the industry treated the era’s laddish culture as normal.
He said: “So yeah, it’s tough looking back, and it’s horrific, it’s unremittingly grim.”
Richard recalled meeting Walliams when the comedian was 21, while working on a computer game show pilot.
He said they later “fell out, not for any exciting reasons” and shortly afterwards “didn’t work with him again.” However, he said he had continued following Walliams’ career.
His hope now was that television could avoid repeating those mistakes and find ways to put them right.
Richard on Russell Brand and Endemol
On an earlier podcast episode, Richard had also discussed Russell Brand, who was jailed for 10 years and six months on Monday at Southwark Crown Court for one count of rape and three counts of sexual assault.
Richard was a creative director at Endemol UK during Brand’s time with the production company. His own work there focused on developing and producing quiz and game shows.
Brand joined Endemol in 2004 to host Big Brother’s Eforum, later known as Big Brother’s Big Mouth.
Richard said he had formed a poor opinion of Brand’s talent from the beginning. But he was clear about their lack of personal contact: “I’ve never worked with him, never met him.”
In 2024, Channel 4 said its review found one complaint had not reached senior management.
Banijay UK, formerly Endemol, also found failures to escalate informal staff complaints. The company apologised to anyone affected who felt unable to speak up or felt nobody had properly heard them.
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