Noel Clarke DROPS his legal action against Bafta for defamation after his membership was suspended over sexual misconduct and bullying allegations
- Actor and producer Noel Clarke, 46, has dropped his legal action against Bafta
- Membership was suspended after sexual harassment and bullying allegations
- Twenty women made claims against the actor to The Guardian, which he denied
- In March the Metropolitan Police decided against launching a criminal probe
- In May, the British actor revealed that he considered taking his own life
- You can call The Samaritans for free on 116 123, email them at [email protected]
Actor and producer Noel Clarke has dropped his legal action against Bafta, the academy has said.
It comes after he won the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema last year, before having his membership suspended ‘until further notice’ when 20 women made claims to The Guardian alleging sexual harassment and bullying.
Clarke denied all allegations and the Met decided against launching a criminal probe in March — concluding the accusations did not ‘meet the threshold’ for a police probe.
A Bafta spokesperson said in a statement: ‘We note that Noel Clarke has dropped his legal action against Bafta.
Actor and producer Noel Clarke has dropped his legal action against Bafta, the academy has said
‘The serious misconduct alleged in first-hand testimonies and published in The Guardian newspaper is contrary to the standards expected of a Bafta member and the values we uphold as an arts charity and academy.
‘We stand by our decision to suspend his honorary award and membership as soon as the detailed allegations came to light.’
After the Met decided to drop any probe against the actor, social media users criticised the force for not pursuing the allegations, questioning the reasons behind the decision and expressing support for women who come forward to report sexual violence.
In a statement at the time Clarke said he ‘vehemently’ denied ‘any sexual misconduct or criminal wrongdoing’.
He added that he was ‘deeply sorry’ if some of his actions had affected people ‘in ways I did not intend or realise’, and vowed to get professional help ‘to educate myself and change for the better’.
In May, the British actor revealed that he considered taking his own life after more than 20 women accused him of sex offences.
Mr Clarke revealed he was suicidal at one point after the allegations surfaced – only snapping out of it because one of his children asked him why he had a knife in his pocket
He told The Mail On Sunday he had considered suicide, saying: ‘I needed to do something unsurvivable.’
In 2021 allegations emerged from more than 20 women, who all knew the actor, 46, in a professional capacity and reported incidents while working with him on TV and film projects.
The allegations, spanning a 15-year period, include claims of unwanted touching or groping, sexually inappropriate behaviour and comments on set, the covert filming of a naked audition and the sharing of explicit pictures without consent.
Mr Clarke previously announced that he was suing The Guardian, the paper which broke news of the allegations, as well as Bafta for defamation.
Separately he is suing magazine publisher Conde Nast, which ran a piece about the controversy in its glossy men’s monthly GQ.
The legal action against Bafta has now been dropped.
In May, Mr Clarke told The Mail On Sunday that at one point contemplated cutting his own throat as his mental health suffered.
He said it was his 11-year-old child who ‘snapped him out of it’ by asking him a question — about why he was carrying a knife in his pocket.
The actor’s career saw him voted as best guest actor for his appearances in Doctor Who in 2006 – but he says he has been cancelled and his career ‘destroyed’ by the allegations
In the past year, Clarke and his wife Iris, who have been together for two decades, have had a new baby they haven’t dared tell anyone about.
Mr Clarke now has four children — prior to the new baby, his youngest son was born in 2015.
He pocketed a folding hunting knife bought as a souvenir while filming Auf Wiedersehen, Pet in Arizona 20 years ago and planned to cut his own throat.
‘I needed to do something unsurvivable,’ he said. ‘I was reaching for a book and the knife fell out of my pocket. My 11-year-old said, ‘Daddy, why have you got that?’
‘I said, ‘It’s just to pick the dirt out of my nails…’ And he said, ‘Oh, OK,’ and somehow the ordinariness of that snapped me out of it.
‘Up to that point, I had been waiting for the right moment to kill myself. I was out of here. Done. I didn’t care about anything. My mind was destroyed.’
‘Twenty years of work was gone in 24 hours. I lost everything,’ he told the newspaper, adding that his career has been cancelled by the allegations.
Noel Clarke, 46, is best known for acting in Doctor Who and co-creating The Hood Trilogy. Pictured in June
‘The company I built from the ground up, my TV shows, my movies, my book deals, the industry respect I had.
‘In my heart and my head it has damaged me in a way I cannot articulate.’
He spends his days at home caring for his new baby, on the touchline when his older children play football, going to church on Sundays and attending therapy.
He has been so traumatised he hasn’t been able to watch TV for a year because he only sees people who have turned their backs on him, he said.
Following the allegations against Clarke, ITV pulled the concluding episode of drama Viewpoint, in which he starred, and broadcaster Sky, which had aired Clarke’s series Bulletproof, said it was halting work with him.
Bafta also suspended his membership of the organisation and his outstanding British contribution to cinema award, which he had been given in 2021.
Mr Clarke acknowledged that not all of his past behaviour has been beyond reproach, particularly when events of almost two decades ago are judged by the standards of today.
He told The Mail On Sunday: ‘I’m not a predator. I have crossed the road to avoid walking behind women since I was 15 years old.’
Mr Clarke stayed off his social media such as Twitter for 13 months after he was first accused of sex offences – making a reappearance on May 28 to post the article for The Mail On Sunday.
The actor is best known for acting in Doctor Who and co-creating The Hood Trilogy.
He has also had notable roles in Brotherhood, Star Trek Into Darkness and Mute.
He was awarded BAFTA’s Orange Rising Star Award in 2009 and was awarded the 2003 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Most Promising Newcomer of 2002 for his performance in Where Do We Live at the Royal Court Theatre.
He criticised the influence of social media in ‘cancelling’ him and destroying his career: ”At what point did the broadcasters in this country become the judges, juries and executioners of people?
‘At what point did Bafta decide they were no longer about films, but they were about judging people’s lives? This is not about me, it’s bigger, it’s about due process.
‘Yes, people have said these things about me – but if I say you’re a donkey, it doesn’t make you a donkey, does it?’
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