A female actress who starred alongside Noel Clarke in Sky drama Bulletproof has claimed the raft of sexual harassment and bullying allegations against him are the British film industry’s ‘best kept secret.’
Some 20 women who knew Clarke in a professional capacity have accused the Kidulthood and Doctor Who actor, 45, of sexual harassment and bullying in a series of claims published by The Guardian on Thursday.
Clarke yesterday apologised ‘deeply’ for his actions and said he will be seeking professional help, but has ‘vehemently’ denied sexual misconduct or criminal behaviour.
Following the allegations, a swathe of Clarke’s former co-stars have spoken out in support of the 20 women, including Christina Chong who appeared in his Sky One series Bulletproof.
Sharing the Guardian article to Twitter, she alleged the claims have been the ‘UK film industry’s best kept secret for years!’
She said: ‘If in doubt, trust me, it’s true. Why would 20 women put themselves through reliving their traumas to bring down an actor who isn’t even a household name? He’s a sexual predator #stoppable.’
A female actress who starred alongside Noel Clarke in Bulletproof has claimed the raft of allegations against him are the British film industry’s ‘best kept secret’
Following the allegations, a swathe of Clarke’s former co-stars have spoken out in support of the 20 women, including Christina Chong (right) who appeared in his Sky One series Bulletproof. Pictured left: Mandeep Dhillon
Chong and Dhillon are seen alongside Clarke in a still from the Sky One drama Bulletproof
Sharing the Guardian article to Twitter, Chong alleged the claims are have been ‘UK film industry’s best kept secret for years!
Mandeep Dhillon, 30, who appeared as Kamali Khan, added: ‘About f****** time. Don’t @ me.’
Chong, 38, responded to her Instagram post: ‘Took the words right out of my mouth.’
Both actresses later posted identical messages to their social media accounts, reading: ‘We stand by the women sexually harassed by Noel Clarke #stoppable #timesup #metoo.’
Earlier, Bulletproof actor Ashley Walters said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the allegations made against Clarke in a lengthy statement posted to Twitter.
He added: ‘My thoughts are with the women who have come forward and told their awful stories, I am in shock and deeply saddened by what I have heard on a multitude of levels.
‘I could never condone behaviour of this nature in nor out of the workplace, and whilst Noel has been a friend and colleague for several years, I cannot stand by and ignore this allegations.
‘Sexual harassment, abuse, and bullying have no place in our industry.
‘Every woman has the right to a safe workplace and moving forward I pledge my dedication to this.’
Mandeep Dhillon, 30, who appeared as Kamali Khan, added: ‘About f****** time. Don’t @ me’
Earlier, Bulletproof actor Ashley Walters said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the allegations made against Clarke in a lengthy statement posted to Twitter
Walters has starred as Ronnie Pike in all three seasons of Bulletproof, an East London crime drama, with filming on the fourth set to start later this year.
Following the allegations, which saw Clarke suspended from Bafta, the actor said in a statement: ‘I vehemently deny any sexual misconduct or criminal wrongdoing.
‘Recent reports however have made it clear to me that some of my actions have affected people in ways I did not intend or realise.
‘To those individuals, I am deeply sorry. I will be seeking professional help to educate myself and change for the better.’
His comments came amid reports that Bafta spent two weeks deciding how best to respond to allegations against Clarke prior to presenting him with an award.
The film academy was made aware of the allegations of sexual harassment, bullying and verbal abuse shortly after it announced its intention to honour the director with an award for outstanding British contribution to cinema, according to The Guardian.
It added that senior figures within the film academy were worried about the potential reputational damage to the organisation over its handling of the claims against Clarke.
Bafta chair Krishnendu Majumdar was reportedly aware there could be as many as 12 women making allegations against Clarke on the eve of the awards ceremony.
He sought to speak to anyone with first-hand experience of Clarke’s alleged misconduct and told an industry figure he was ‘trying to do something about’ the situation as it could ‘destroy’ Bafta ‘in the court of public opinion’, the newspaper said.
Majumdar is said to have described the allegations as a ‘desperately difficult situation for us’ as Bafta ‘cannot act as judge and jury’.
He also hosted a Zoom call with figures including Bafta chief executive Amanda Berry to discuss how to respond to the allegations, the newspaper said.
Bafta has said it will not comment on the latest claims in The Guardian.
However, the academy previously said in a letter to its membership it was not aware of the allegations relating to Clarke before announcing he would be given the award and it was in the following days they received anonymous emails about the allegations from second or third-hand sources.
Meanwhile, Clarke’s mother Gemma Clarke said she was proud of her son becoming an actor and only gave him this piece of advice when he was growing up: ‘Just don’t thieve or go to jail.’
She told MailOnline: ‘I am proud of him and I’m still proud of him but I don’t know what’s going on.
‘I haven’t managed to speak to him because his phone is switched off but I have spoken to his wife and kids. I’m not telling you how she is but the kids were in school today. He’s not at home. I don’t know where he is.
‘I can’t get through to him. I’m confused and upset but I can’t comment until I’ve spoken to him. I’ve tried to ring him but his phone is switched off.’
Mrs Clarke said Noel had wanted to be an actor since he was a child and filmed parts of Kidulthood in his mother’s home in a block of council flats and the grounds outside, which lie in the shadow of Grenfell Tower.
Born in Trinidad, she moved to Britain in 1969 and became a paediatric nurse in 1973. Noel was born in Hammersmith Hospital.
‘I wasn’t upset that he didn’t go into the medical profession,’ she said. ‘He always wanted to be an actor. I was very proud of him.’ She said his acting career began in 2003 with a role in Auf Weidershen Pet.
An actress friend of Noel Clarke told MailOnline yesterday that the 20 women accusing him of being a ‘sexual predator’ are pursuing a racist ‘witchhunt’ as the actor was sacked by Sky, suspended by Bafta and criticised by a co-star who backed his alleged victims.
Actress Jahannah James, a star in one of Clarke’s hit movies, Brotherhood, is one of his alleged victims named in the Guardian, claiming she was secretly filmed doing a naked audition that was so upsetting she still cries ‘years later’
Miss James (pictured left and right) is claiming she was secretly filmed doing a naked audition for Brotherhood that was so upsetting she still cries ‘years later’
The actress, who asked not to be named, said the 45-year-old actor, writer and director’s fall from grace is because ‘no one likes it when a man of colour gets to the top’.
Clarke, who is married to former make-up artist Iris Da Silva with three children, wrote and starred in the acclaimed film trilogy Kidulthood, Adulthood and Brotherhood as well as many TV hits including Doctor Who.
He is accused of a campaign of sexual harassment, groping and bullying between 2004 and 2019.
The women accusing Noel Clarke of harassment, voyeurism groping and bullying
The actress
Actress Jahann’ah James, a star in one of Clarke’s hit movies, Brotherhood (pictured together), is one of his alleged victims named in the Guardian. She has shared the article on Twitter, adding: ‘Bafta knew about the allegations before his award and decided they didn’t believe it’.
A former friend of Clarke’s and a movie producer, told Miss James that he had secretly filmed her during a naked audition.
James told the newspaper said: ‘I was told 100% it was not going to be on camera,’ adding she was told that it was a practice run to ensure ‘she wasn’t going to ‘bottle it’ on the day’.
She added: ‘I was so upset. Now, years later, I still cry when I talk about it. I want people to know, because I hate the idea that he can secretly film young actresses – who have no idea that they’re not supposed to be getting naked in auditions – and go on to get a Bafta’. Clarke denied the claims were true.
The producer
Another woman in the film industry told the Guardian that on a 2015 trip to LA with Clarke he exposed himself in a car, and she said to him: ‘Noel that’s not right’
She claims they went for lunch the following day and she claims: ‘He told me I made him feel like an old man’. But later she claims he groped her in a lift saying he had said he had now got ‘what he was owed’, as she ‘pushed him away’.
The woman claims he also told her that he had planned ‘to f**k her and fire her’. She also claims that he had said he would ‘brag’ about ‘storing sexually explicit pictures and videos on his hard drive, including footage he told her he had secretly filmed during naked auditions’, according to the Guardian.
Through his lawyers, Clarke denied he ever sexually harassed her, and denied all her allegations.
The production assistant
A production assistant, who worked on Brotherhood, claims she once saw Clarke in the office, surrounded by a group of people who were ‘sniggering and looking at me’.
She told the Guardian ‘she remembers the image of her knickers on Clarke’s phone’, adding she believed the picture was taken when she did the splits at a party.
She said she went to grab the phone and it fell on the phone and smashed. Clarke then sent her to a repair shop to get it fixed, she said, adding: ‘It was the final act of humiliation’. Clarke strongly denies the allegations.
Leila, not her real name, claims she was subjected to an unwanted sexual contact from Clarke in a storage room on set, saying: ‘He is a bully as well as a sexual predator’. Clarke strongly denies the allegations.
An intern on the film Doghouse, which Clarke starred in, said he ‘started trying to kiss me on the lips, in front of everyone’, which she resisted. ‘He probably tried it like three to five times with me, maybe more,’ she said.
Costume designer
One costume department worker said that she was harassed by Clarke when he got changed on set. She told the Guardian: ‘He would say I had a really nice body and that, if he hadn’t married his wife, I would have been ideal… and how he could make my career. And then he would touch my knee’. Clarke strongly denies the allegations.
Art director
An art director claimed that Clarke ‘violated industry norms for the ethical filming of sex or nude scenes’. She said that his production hired strippers to perform some scenes instead of actresses’, and that people didn’t feel safe on set.
She claimed on one occasion: ‘There were about 10 random people behind me, watching [on monitors]. It appeared they turned up to watch the naked girls, The duty of care was not there for the girls’.
She added that on one shoot in December 2015 an extra was ‘straddling’ a male actor. ‘The camera was right behind her. She was completely naked. And I know for a fact we could never have used that shot, because you could see up her bum hole’.
The art director told the Guardian that once another actor was asked to play with her naked breasts on camera. She said: ‘I remember thinking at the time: surely they wouldn’t be able to use half the stuff they were filming’. Clarke strongly denies the allegations.
Sky ‘halts’ all work with Noel Clarke and cancels filming of his Bulletproof show over sex claims – as ITV faces pressure to axe tonight’s final part of Viewpoint after viewers slam ‘crass’ decision to air sex scene with him
Sky has halted all work with Noel Clarke and cancelled filming of his new show over sexual harassment claims – as ITV faced pressure to axe tonight’s final episode of thriller Viewpoint after criticism of its ‘crass’ decision to air a sex scene with him.
Sky said ‘effective immediately’ it would be ‘halting’ Clarke’s ‘involvement in all future productions’ until an undefined date.
The actor has starred in three series of Bulletproof, an East London crime drama, with filming on the fourth set to start later this year.
Young appeared in the penultimate episode of Viewpoint yesterday, which aired an hour after 20 women accused him of sexual harassment, groping and bullying between 2004 and 2019 in claims he has vehemently denied.
TV presenter India Willoughby joined growing numbers of Twitter users calling on the channel to ‘do the right thing’ and axe tonight’s final episode of hit crime drama, which has been running every day this week.
She wrote: ‘Let’s see if ITV do the right thing and drop tonight’s final episode of Noel Clarke drama #Viewpoint , while the allegations are investigated. Big on statements this year. One for the women, seeing it’s a female orientated channel?’
Others criticised ITV for continuing to air last night’s episode of Viewpoint, which included a sex scene involving Clarke as lead character DC Martin Young and the actress Alexandra Roach.
Noel Clarke pictured in the five-part drama Viewpoint, which follows a tense police surveillance investigation into a tightknit Manchester community. The show went ahead on ITV last night (including this sex scene with co-star Alexandra Roach) despite the furore
TV presenter India Willoughby joined growing numbers of Twitter users calling on the channel to ‘do the right thing’ and axe the hit crime drama, which has been running every day this week
A spokesperson for Sky said today: ‘Sky stands against all forms of sexual harassment and bullying and takes any allegations of this nature extremely seriously. Effective immediately, we have halted Noel Clarke’s involvement in any future Sky productions.’
Clarke said in response to the allegations: ‘In a 20-year career, I have put inclusivity and diversity at the forefront of my work and never had a complaint made against me.
‘If anyone who has worked with me has ever felt uncomfortable or disrespected, I sincerely apologise. I vehemently deny any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing and intend to defend myself against these false allegations.’
‘Incredibly crass decision to broadcast this,’ one Twitter user wrote last night, with a second adding: ‘Well this is uncomfortable.’
Others also vented their anger on the social network.
Debbie Blackman tweeted: ‘Very awkward about showing #Viewpoint tonight. I want to see what happens but doesn’t seem right somehow.’
Christian Bevan said: ‘Why are @ITV still showing #Viewpoint? Surely you have to pull the programme.’
And Noel Elkins added: ‘Totally wrong decision for @itv to be showing #Viewpoint.’
Clarke has starred in three series of Bulletproof, an East London crime drama, (pic) with filming on the fourth set to start later this year
Others also vented their anger against ITV on the social network. MailOnline has contacted the channel for comment
ITV bosses took urgent steps to remove all mention of Clarke from the continuity announcements for Viewpoint yesterday, according to reports.
A source told Daily Star: ‘Viewpoint was billed as ITV’s big crime drama but it’s now in turmoil.
‘The news broke an hour before episode 4 was due to air and ITV made an active decision not to mention Noel in the voice over announcement on Thursday.
‘Bosses are now in talks about how to proceed promoting the rest of the show which continues on Friday.’
MailOnline has contacted ITV for comment.
Bafta has now suspended the award-winning director’s membership and his outstanding British contribution to cinema award, which he was handed earlier this month at the Royal Albert Hall.
Clarke, who is married to former make-up artist Iris Da Silva with three children, wrote and starred in the acclaimed film trilogy Kidulthood, Adulthood and Brotherhood as well as many TV hits including Doctor Who.
But he has been rocked by allegations by women that he has worked with that he is an alleged ‘sexual predator’, who claim he harassed, groped and bullied at work, which he denied in a statement from his lawyers.
He said he ‘sincerely apologised’ to colleagues who felt ‘uncomfortable or disrespected’, but slammed claims of sexual misconduct or wrongdoing as ‘false allegations’.
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The claims were levelled against Clarke, best known for appearing in Doctor Who and for co-creating The Hood Trilogy, in The Guardian last night.
Paul Ritter as Leonard Vance, Alex Kingston as Ruth Hattersley, Reece Shearsmith as DS Sean Stone and Clarke as DCI Carl Prior in the TV programme ‘Chasing Shadows’
One woman, who worked as a producer alongside Clarke between 2014 and 2017, alleged that the actor had secretly filmed a naked audition of another woman and bragged about it.
She also claimed Clarke exposed himself to her in a car before groping her in a lift the next day.
According to several accounts, Clarke showed colleagues sexually explicit photos and videos of women, or implied he had access to them. He was also accused of unsolicited sharing of sexually explicit images.
Other women have alleged that the actor would subject them to unwanted physical contact, which included kissing or groping.
Another, who as a teenager starred in Kidulthood, Clarke’s debut film, said one day near the start of filming he ‘put his tongue in my mouth’ and afterwards would constantly grab her and try to kiss her.
It is alleged that when Clarke heard about a newspaper investigation into the allegations, he attempted to contact several of his accusers.
