DIVERSITY IS BIG, BUT AS BAFTA NOW KNOWS, #METOO IS BIGGER

ONLY the death of the Duke of edinburgh on april 9, it seems, saved Prince William from a great embarrassment.

as president of BaFta (the British academy of Film and television arts), the Duke of Cambridge was to have made a speech praising the academy the day after its 2021 awards on april 10 in which the actorproducer noel Clarke received a prize for ‘outstanding British contribution to cinema’.

the point is that the previous year Prince William criticised BaFta for its poor record in recognising ‘minority talent’. in giving such a coveted and rare award to Clarke, BaFta was trying to address such criticism.

Clarke has projected himself as an exemplar without equal, in this respect. in an interview last September, he declared: ‘if you think of all the opportunities black actors have today, that’s because of stuff i did.’

even by the standards of the egotism rife in showbusiness, that’s going it a bit.

to be honest, i’d never heard of him. Sidney Poitier, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L Jackson — and our own Lenny Henry — yes. But noel Clarke?

Well, we’re all hearing about him now, after the Guardian last week reported allegations from 20 women in the business, all with stories to tell of unwanted sexual propositioning or related unpleasantness from Clarke.

He has simultaneously apologised and denounced it all as lies. this somewhat paradoxical response has not saved his career. BAFTA, his agents, tv production companies for which he has worked: all, immediately, dumped him.

BAFTA withdrew his award less than half an hour after the Guardian broke the story, which raises the question as to whether they had a pretty good idea of his ( alleged) behaviour even when giving him the special award. But when the accusations went public . . . oops. Diversity is big, but #Metoo is bigger.

i draw another, different, lesson. the whole showbusiness awards ritual is a puffed-up and increasingly politicised pantomime. But at least the Golden Globes put things in their proper perspective by inviting Ricky Gervais to introduce them.

His concluding remarks at the ceremony in January 2020 were unimprovable: ‘if you do win an award tonight, please don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta thunberg.

‘ So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent and your God and **** off.’ So say all of us.