Booktopia Still Selling Russell Brand, David Walliams Books After Pulling Craig Silvey Titles
Australian online retailer Booktopia still lists books by Russell Brand and David Walliams, although it pulled Craig Silvey's titles. Dymocks ordered Walliams' books off shelves on November 11, 2026, and Big W has already removed them.
Booktopia, one of Australia's biggest online booksellers, was still selling books by Russell Brand and David Walliams on November 12, 2026, even though it has pulled titles by author Craig Silvey from its listings.
Retailers across the country are reacting at different speeds to three separate cases involving authors. Booktopia is the one that has not yet acted on Brand or Walliams.
Three authors, three cases
Brand, an English actor and comedian, was jailed this week for 10 years and six months for rape and sexual assaults. Walliams was identified on Wednesday as the high-profile man at the centre of an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct in the UK.
Silvey, an Australian author, was jailed for seven months after pleading guilty to distributing and possessing child exploitation material. Many of his books were marketed to children and young adults, and libraries and bookstores removed them. Booktopia stopped selling them too, including Jasper Jones and Honeybee.
What Booktopia said
A Booktopia spokesperson said: "Our mandate is to provide a service and selection of books in the best interests of our customers." The spokesperson added: "We appreciate the sensitivity and will carefully consider any decision in due course, in consultation with the book publishers."
Other retailers
Dymocks acted on November 11, 2026. Chief executive David Allen said the company instructed all stores to cease sales of, and remove from shelves, all books published by Walliams, together with any affiliated merchandise. He said the action was effective immediately across the store network.
Big W pulled Walliams' books when news of the allegations broke. A Brand book had been listed on Big W Marketplace by a third-party merchant, but Big W removed it once it learned of his crimes.
Some of Walliams' children's books still appeared to be available through Target and Kmart Marketplace on the Kmart website. Brand's books did not appear to be on sale there.
The allegations against Walliams
A joint investigation by a UK broadcaster and newspaper alleges Walliams, a children's author and co-creator of the sketch show Little Britain, used his fame to groom girls and young women for sex. It reports that multiple women accused him, and that one claimed he sexually assaulted her when she was 15.
Walliams, 55, denies the allegations and has not been charged by police. He tried to keep his name suppressed, but a UK High Court judge rejected his bid. In a statement he said: "I am not a sexual predator. I have not broken the law."
He also said: "Looking back, I realise that at times I behaved thoughtlessly towards other people I had casual sexual relationships with."
Publishers have also moved. Multiple UK publishers have pulled Brand's books from print after his sentencing. HarperCollins said in September it would phase out remaining copies of Walliams' books after cutting ties with him in 2025.
