Matt Lucas has addressed criticism of his initial reaction to a post decrying the prominence of celebrity authors in bookshops.

The Little Britain comedian and former Great British Bake Off host said he has was “oversensitive” to the post shared by children’s author Lindsay Littleson, who shared a photo of a bookshelf in WH Smith filled with books written by stars including Lucas, Alesha Dixon, Geri Halliwell, Stephen Mulhern, Jamie Oliver.

She wrote: “Makes me wonder why I keep trying,” to which Lucas replied: “I’m very proud of my book, I worked hard on it.”

Many called Lucas out for failing to acknowledge his privilege as a known name, with Ice Cream Boy Littleson replying: “I’m very proud of mine too. I work hard visiting schools to try and inspire more children to read for pleasure. My new novel came out last week and is being well reviewed. But it isn’t on that shelf. None of my books are, or any others by indie authors. Books by celebrities rule.”

After this, Lucas wrote: “I’ve been writing for a living since 1992, before I was famous, But anyway I wish you all the best and congratulations on your reviews,” and then appeared to block Littleson on X/Twitter.

Littleson told her followers: “Still believe this was a conversation worth having but Matt’s team clearly disagree. Anyway, it was great to hear from so many lovely authors and indie bookshops!”

Lucas was strongly criticised for blocking Littleston, with Chaos Walking writer Patrick Ness chiming in: “Bad move, @RealMattLucas Children’s writers all talk to each other, you know. Hoping this was all a PR team mistake.”

After taking “some time to reflect”, Lucas then shared a post reading: “Because I write for a living I think I was oversensitive about @ljlittleson‘s initial post. I understand the frustrations other writers must be feeling when they struggle to get their great work on shelves. Please tell me how I can help support them.”

The star’s comments section has since been flooded with replies with suggestions on how he can help independent writers, with writer James Withey suggesting: “Tweet about new children’s books you’ve read and loved. Maybe a new one each month.

“Talk about your favourite living authors in interviews whilst promoting your book and mention authors you admire who haven’t had the success they deserve.”

Writer Marie Basting added: “Hi Matt, if you look at the timelines of children’s authors, you’ll see how we champion, boost & support each other. We also work with schools, reading orgs, bookshops & bloggers to promote reading for pleasure. It would be fantastic if you cld use your platform in a similar way.”