A Doctor Who Star Is Suing BAFTA Due To Sexual Harassment Allegations
A star from Doctor Who, who appeared on the series from 2005 to 2010, is suing for defamation of character after allegations of sexual harassment broke in a news story.
Johnny Depp is not the only one that is now suing for defamation of character. A former Doctor Who star has now set his eyes on a lawsuit against BAFTA, and the reporting agencies that broke the story of the actor’s conduct with 20 different women from 2004 to 2019. Noel Clarke is a British actor who made his name on Doctor Who from 2005 to 2010. Clarke had a recurring role as Mickey Smith on the series. Clarke is now suing due to an award that he was to receive by BAFTA but has now been rescinded. Clarke is accused of groping, harassment, and bullying by 20 different women. These claims were made public by an article written in The Guardian. However, a police investigation was conducted, and the Metropolitan Police Department dropped their investigation into the actor due to “insufficient evidence.”
Noel Clarke is most famous for his time on Doctor Who, but the actor also starred in Brotherhood and Bulletproof, the latter being the series the actor being the most recent on. Due to these allegations, Sky canceled Bulletproof. BAFTA was also set to give Clarke an award for outstanding contributions to British cinema, but the agency decided to halt the award due to the sexual harassment allegations that were made public in the article in The Guardian. The actor also had his BAFTA membership revoked because of these allegations. Clarke immediately denied these claims, and he is now suing BAFTA for defamation. He has filed the lawsuit in London’s High Court. He is also suing The Guardian Media Group and Condé Nast, who is the owner of GQ magazine. Nast ran a story with the two journalists who broke the news of these sexual harassment allegations. With the police investigation claiming the evidence is not strong enough to pursue criminal charges, Clarke might now have a strong case against these agencies.
A spokesperson for BAFTA spoke on the lawsuit. According to the representative, “A year ago, BAFTA was transparent about what led to Mr. Clarke’s award and membership being suspended following serious accusations of groping, harassment and bullying by 20 women published by The Guardian.” BAFTA had apparently been forthright with the information about why they had chosen to rescind the award given to Noel Clarke, and they believe that his lawsuit is misplaced. The spokesperson also claimed that they are shocked to hear of Clarke’s lawsuit and the charity will “of course defend themselves.”
Noel Clarke is going after some high-profile agencies, including BAFTA. To be honest, BAFTA is only doing what it must in order to protect its reputation. Especially with the way the world is right now, any agency that has any connection with someone that is being accused of sexual misconduct in any way can face severe public backlash. The police investigation may have “cleared” Clarke’s name in a sense, but there is still the matter of the allegations being there in the first place. It has also been stated that any further claims of sexual misconduct would be thoroughly investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department. Keep your eyes peeled for updates on this story in the coming weeks, as decisions on this case going to trial will certainly be on the way.
