I’m A Celebrity star Ash Williams pleads not guilty to recording an intimate image without consent

I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! contestant and comedian Ash Williams was a no-show in court the morning after the show’s grand finale.

Comedian Ash Williams has pleaded not guilty to recording an intimate image of a woman without her consent.

The I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! star, who made it to the top seven and appeared on Network 10’s grand finale on Sunday night, was charged by police in Sydney last month.

It is understood police will allege the images at the centre of the allegations are screenshots of a woman, allegedly taken during FaceTime phone sex.

The 38-year-old was charged in December.

Ash Williams made the top seven contestants. Picture: Supplied/Channel 10

“In November 2020, officers from Inner West Police Area Command received a report of an offence allegedly committed by a 38-year-old man,” NSW Police said in a statement.

“Following further investigations, the man was charged with intentionally record intimate image without consent on Friday, 18 December 2020.”

Williams did not appear when his case was mentioned before Magistrate Glenn Bartley in Newtown Local Court on Monday.

However, lawyer Lauren MacDougall – appearing on behalf of Williams’ solicitor Charles Abbott – said she was “instructed to enter a plea of not guilty to the criminal matter”.

Ash Williams at the finale. Picture: Matrix

His case will now go to a hearing. Picture: Matrix

“He’s defending the charge,” Mr Abbott told NCA NewsWire outside court last month.

“I think he’s a bit shocked.”

Williams told The Sunday Telegraph he was “really upset” by the allegation.

“I’m distressed about the impact it’s had on members of my family, particularly my mum,” he said.

The magistrate on Monday asked the parties to provide a reasonable time estimate for the hearing, noting if it requires more than one day it will be moved to Downing Centre Local Court in the CBD.

“Certainly with categories of cases (such as this), it could well hit the five-hour mark,” Mr Bartley said.

Ms MacDougall asked for Williams to be excused from appearing if legally represented when the case returns to court on March 23.

Police have also made an apprehended violence order application on behalf of the alleged victim.

If proven, the recording charge carries a maximum penalty of three years imprisonment, an $11,000 fine or both.

Williams was charged after arriving home from filming in the so-called jungle near Murwillumbah in northeastern New South Wales.

He shocked I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! viewers when he revealed a number of his past side gigs, including selling photos of his feet online and working as a go-go dancer in a gay bar in Los Angeles, where he was paid to suck a guy’s nipple.