LONDON — The physique that awards Britain’s equal of the Oscars has suspended a distinguished actor and director weeks after he obtained one among its high awards, following accusations of sexual assault, sexual harassment and bullying from 20 girls.
Producers, actresses and manufacturing assistants mentioned the actor, Noel Clarke, secretly filmed auditions during which they had been bare, groped or forcibly kissed them, and despatched unsolicited intimate footage. The testimonies had been detailed in a lengthy exposé published by The Guardian on Thursday night.
Mr. Clarke, 45, grew up in London and established himself as an actor within the 2000s with the tv collection “Doctor Who.” He is well-known in Britain as a filmmaker and performer for his trilogy “The Hood,” concerning the lives of youngsters in West London, and for the TV police dramas “Bulletproof” and “Viewpoint.” His manufacturing firm, Unstoppable Film & Television, has made greater than 10 films and tv reveals.
Mr. Clarke denied the all accusations via his attorneys, in keeping with The Guardian, aside from an episode during which he was accused of constructing inappropriate feedback a few lady. He mentioned he later apologized in that case.
A spokesman for the artist administration company 42 M&P mentioned it had stopped representing Mr. Clarke in April. Other efforts to contact Mr. Clarke and his representatives weren’t instantly profitable.
Allegations of sexual harassment within the movie business have poured forth lately following revelations about Harvey Weinstein in The New York Times that touched off the #MeToo movement. Mr. Clarke is without doubt one of the first distinguished actors to face such allegations in Britain.
In a press release offered to The Guardian, Mr. Clarke mentioned, “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 apologize,” Mr. Clarke mentioned, denying any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing, and dismissing the accusations as false.
The extent of the potential penalties for Mr. Clarke grew to become clear on Friday when the tv community ITV took the bizarre step of saying in a statement that it will not air the finale of “Viewpoint,” a drama starring the actor, on its primary channel Friday night time due to the accusations towards him.
Mr. Clarke was lately honored by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, recognized generally as BAFTA, with the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema prize at its annual ceremony earlier this month, though it was made conscious of the accusations almost two weeks earlier than the ceremony.
BAFTA mentioned in a press release on Friday that within the days following an announcement that Mr. Clarke can be awarded the prize, it obtained emails accusing him of sexual misconduct.
The allegations, the group mentioned, had been both nameless or second- or third-hand accounts through intermediaries, including that it will have responded in another way if the testimonies had come instantly from the accusers.
“No names, times, dates, productions or other details were ever provided,” BAFTA mentioned. “Had the victims gone on record as they have with The Guardian, the award would have been suspended immediately.”
BAFTA, which had beforehand honored Mr. Clarke with its rising star award in 2009, mentioned in an earlier statement, launched shortly after the article was printed, that it had suspended his award and membership of the academy “immediately and until further notice.”
The Guardian report cited almost two dozen girls within the film business who mentioned they’d been subjected to a spread of abuses that embrace undesirable bodily contact, groping and compelled kisses, in addition to unsolicited sexual conduct on set, together with eight on the report.
The Norwegian movie producer Synne Seltveit mentioned Mr. Clarke slapped her buttocks in 2015, and later despatched an undesirable express sexual image. The actress Gina Powel mentioned Mr. Clarke uncovered himself to her in a automotive and later groped her in an elevator, additionally in 2015. Anna Avramenko, an assistant movie director, mentioned Mr. Clarke had forcibly kissed her on set in 2008 and had tried a number of occasions once more after the incident.
Helen Atherton, an artwork director on “Brotherhood,” which is a part of “The Hood” trilogy, mentioned Mr. Clarke had violated norms for the moral filming of intercourse and nude scenes, together with the hiring a nonprofessional actress to carry out a scene during which intimate components of her anatomy had been seen.
In current years, as TV and film productions grapple with the implications of the #MeToo motion, “intimacy coordinators,” have gotten a typical presence on set. Their job is to make sure intercourse scenes don’t compromise or exploit the performers, and up to date British and Irish reveals like “It’s a Sin” and “Normal People” have featured intimacy coordinators amongst their crew.
Onscreen, the plots of some current British hits, like “Sex Education” and “I May Destroy You,” have turned on questions of sexual consent.
The British actress and author Michaela Coel, who created “I May Destroy You,” during which she performs a younger Londoner who investigates her personal rape, mentioned in a press release she supported the ladies who accused Mr. Clarke.
“Speaking out about these incidents takes a lot of strength because some call them ‘gray areas.’ They are, however, far from gray,” Ms. Coel mentioned.
“These behaviors are unprofessional, violent and can destroy a person’s perception of themselves, their place in the world and their career irreparably.”
In his speech on the BAFTA Awards this month, Mr. Clarke, who’s Black, devoted his award to the “underrepresented, anyone who sits at home believing that they can achieve more.”
“This is particularly for my young Black boys and girls out there who never believed that this could happen to them,” Mr. Clarke mentioned.
He added, “Hopefully people see that I’ve tried to elicit change in the industry.”
The British academy had been repeatedly criticized for its lack of variety in its listing of awards nominees, and last year announced a series of changes in its nomination and prize-giving course of.
For this 12 months’s awards, BAFTA’s 6,700 voting members needed to bear unconscious bias coaching and watch each nominated film earlier than they might solid their ballots for every class — an try to discourage voters from specializing in probably the most hyped movies.
In the assertion on Friday, BAFTA mentioned it had requested people to come back ahead with their accounts and establish themselves.
“We very much regret that women felt unable to provide us with the kind of firsthand testimony that has now appeared in The Guardian,” it mentioned. “Had we been in receipt of this, we would never have presented the award to Noel Clarke.”
