Actor Noel Clarke says he was wrongly dubbed a "sexual predator" in a trial by media that wrecked his showbiz career, as he faces The Guardian in the first round of his £10 million High Court libel battle.
The 47-year-old filmmaker was dropped from TV shows, stripped of a Bafta, and ostracised in media circles after he was publicly accused of sexual misconduct and bullying by 20 women.
Clarke, whose credits include Doctor Who and The Hood series of films, is now suing the newspaper over eight articles he says had a “catastrophic” impact on his career.
His barrister, Adam Speker KC, told the court readers of the Guardian would have believed the allegations against Clarke were true.
"Over a series of days at the end of April 2021 and the beginning of May 2021, Guardian News and Media Limited (GNM) chose to label (Clarke) as a sexual predator and accuse him of having acted improperly towards a large number of women in a sexual and criminal way over many years", he said.
"The first article was a major J’accuse moment for Clarke and the film industry, with (him) being described in the first two words of the online edition as a ‘sexual predator’.
"This trial by media, conducted by the most read newspaper for people in the film and entertainment industry, led, unsurprisingly, to (Clarke) being ‘cancelled' in various ways."
He argued Bafta must have believed the allegations in the Guardian as it took the "extraordinary" decision to suspend him from the organisation.
Clarke is in court to follow proceedings, sitting behind his barrister and opposite the legal team for The Guardian.
Mr Speker said the "sexual predator" tag was in the headline of the first article, calling it a "toxic allegation" and arguing it suggests to readers that Clarke is in a similar category to Jimmy Savile and Harvey Weinstein.
"The overall impression is plainly one of guilt", he said.
"What these women are reported to have said...must be taken, as a starting point, to be true: That he did sexually harass them, did engage in unwanted touching or groping, did engage in sexually inappropriate behaviour and comments on stage, did engage in professional misconduct and did take and share explicit pictures and videos without consent."
Mr Justice Johnson is overseeing the first stage of the libel action, hearing argument on the meaning to the public of the printed allegations.
Clarke strongly denies any wrongdoing and is suing over the “devastating” impact on his career, characterising the reporting as "relentless, targeted, vicious and persistent".
Clarke says he lost a £585,000 fee when Sky crime series Bulletproof was dropped, as well as £270,000 for the ITV drama Viewpoint. He is claiming £8.25 million over lost share value and salary from his production company Unstoppable.
The Guardian has defended the stories, saying the "investigation was deeply reported and researched, relying on the testimony of 20 women, all of whom knew Noel Clarke in a professional capacity.
“We stand by our reporting and will be robustly defending our journalism."
In its written argument, Gavin Millar KC said readers of the articles would not have analysed each sentence in depth, and the "overarching theme" is "allegations of misconduct, including sexual misconduct, made by a number of women which are disputed".
"The reasonable reader will appreciate that allegations of this nature are difficult to verify", he said.
"In this context, no reasonable reader would assume an allegation is true merely because it has been made."
Clarke argues the allegations against were stated as facts, and the impression of his guilt was reinforced by Bafta's decision to suspend him and withdraw his award, more women coming forward in later Guardian articles, and comments from fellow actors including Michaela Coel who offered “great support for the 20 brave women who have come forward" and said: "Speaking about these incidents takes a lot of strength”.
The Guardian is arguing its articles and a podcast told their readers there were "reasonable grounds to suspect" Clarke.
Mr Speker, in his submissions, insisted the Guardian had presented their report as a "gotcha" moment.
"They haven't been able to get him before, he has had a very distinguished career, so much so that he was being awarded a Bafta outstanding contribution to cinema award, and the dam has broken.
"These women have broken their silence, they say 'J'Accuse'. The message is sent by the Guardian and the ordinary reader would understand that.
"It is surprising that they don't have the confidence in their own journalism to come to this preliminary trial to say that's what we were doing."
The hearing continues.
