ACCUSED CLARKE IS FACING COP QUIZ
Actor denies abuse claims by over 20 women
Why would 20 women relive their trauma to bring him down? CHRISTINA CHONG ON CLAIMS AGAINST CLARKE
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BAFTA-WINNER Noel Clarke is facing a police probe into a torrent of sexual harassment and bullying claims, it was revealed yesterday.
Detectives are examining claims made in a newspaper that the 45-year-old actor and director abused more than over 20 women over 15 years.
The so-called “third party report” is anonymous so cannot be investigated.
But it can be used as intelligence, including to see if it matches with other reports against the same person.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the force was “assessing the information”.
Clarke was suspended by BAFTA and stripped of his Contribution to Cinema award after Thursday’s Guardian story.
Jaime Winstone, who was his Kidulthood co-star, backed his accusers. Alongside an image of the Times Up campaign logo, she wrote: “When you’re late to the party but you’ve been on the list for 15 years.”
Among the women who have made allegations is producer Gina Powell, who worked on Brotherhood with him.
She alleged he told her he planned to “f**k and fire her”, and that he bragged of having secret films of naked auditions. Christina Chong, who starred with him
CLAIM Producer Gina Powell
in Bulletproof, said claims about Clarke were the “UK film industry’s best kept secret for years”.
She said: “Why would 20 women put themselves through reliving their traumas to bring down an actor who isn’t even a household name?”
Mandeep Dhillon, who starred in the same show, added: “About f ****** time.”
Since the original allegations, six more people have come forward with claims of misconduct, including ex-students from the London School of Dramatic Art.
They claim Clarke encouraged a group to strip during a workshop. Jack Taylor, the school’s founder, confirmed he had stopped Clarke from doing the classes.
Clarke’s lawyers denied the school asked him to stop leading classes and he denies encouraging or forcing anyone to be naked in the workshop.
Clarke, who is married to Iris Da Silva, “vehemently denies sexual misconduct or criminal wrongdoing”. He has also said he is “deeply sorry” and “seeking professional help”.
ITV pulled the final episode of Clarke’s thriller Viewpoint from TV schedules over the “very serious nature” of the allegations. He has also been suspended from Unstoppable Film and Television, a production company he co-founded in 2007, said parent company All3Media.