Advertisement

Noel Clarke claims he has 'been criminalised' over sexual misconduct allegations

Noel Clarke claims he has "been criminalised" as a result of the sexual misconduct allegations made against him last year.

In late April last year, the British actor, producer and director was accused of sexual harassment and bullying by 20 people, and a week later, five women came forward and alleged Clarke behaved inappropriately, made sexual comments, or sexually harassed them either on the Doctor Who set or at a promotional event.

In March, the Metropolitan Police announced that none of the allegations made against the Boyhood star met the threshold for further inquiry so he would not be subjected to a criminal investigation.

Addressing the scandal in an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Clarke said he has been cast as a criminal despite no legal proceedings against him.

"There has been no arrest, no charges, no trial, no verdict but I have been criminalised. This is a form of modern McCarthyism (a campaign against suspected communists)," he said. "If we don't need police and judges and juries any more, if we only need social media and the broadcasters, then what world do we live in? At what point did the broadcasters in this country become the judges, juries and executioners of people?

"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?"

Clarke has always denied all the allegations made against him. After they were published in the Guardian newspaper, BAFTA suspended his membership and withdrew his Outstanding British Contribution To Cinema honour just weeks after he received it.

The Bulletproof actor is now suing BAFTA and the Guardian for defamation as well as publisher Condé Nast over a piece which ran in GQ magazine.

He said he can't see a way back to the career he had before being "cancelled", adding, "Twenty years of work was gone in 24 hours. I lost everything. 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."