Clarke to sue Bafta for having award stripped

THE actor and director Noel Clarke is suing Bafta and claims he has fallen victim to “modern Mccarthyism”.

Accused of instances of bullying and sexually inappropriate behaviour, Mr Clarke was stripped of a Bafta award last year, nine days after receiving it.

Denying allegations of sexual assault, Mr Clarke told The Mail on Sunday: “There has been no arrest, no charges, no trial, no verdict, but I have been criminalised. This is a form of modern Mccarthyism.”

The newspaper reported that Mr Clarke is suing Bafta. He asked: “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 [judging] people’s lives?”

Mr Clarke is also, the newspaper reported, suing Condé Nast, whose magazine GQ ran an article about the allegations. The 46-year-old is additionally suing The Guardian, which reported in April last year that 20 women had, between them, made allegations of groping, harassment and bullying.

The allegations included a claim that Mr Clarke had secretly filmed a naked audition, and had shown colleagues sexually explicit photos and videos.

Mr Clarke’s police drama, Bulletproof, was ditched by Sky, and the finale of his ITV thriller Viewpoint was posted quietly online rather than broadcast on TV. He told The Mail on Sunday that he had considered suicide. “I was out of here. I didn’t care about anything.”

In the interview, Mr Clarke denied allegations that he had groped and exposed himself to Gina Powell, a producer. Ms Powell also claimed that he had shown her a secretly filmed video of the actress Jahannah James.

Mr Clarke said: “I never showed Gina a video of Jahannah James naked, because I never had one.”

Bafta said: “We were transparent about what led to Mr Clarke’s award and membership being suspended following serious accusations of groping, harassment and bullying published by The Guardian. We stand by our decision and are surprised he now wishes to sue. We will of course defend ourselves.”

Condé Nast and Guardian were contacted.