Lawyers for filmmaker Noel Clarke told a court today that The Guardian newspaper acted as the “judge, jury, and executioner” of the Kidulthood filmmaker’s career when they published a series of articles in which he was accused of various incidents of misconduct.
In written submissions to the court, according to the BBC, Clarke’s lawyers said claims that he was a “serial abuser of women” were false, and that he was the victim of an “unlawful conspiracy.”
Guardian News and Media told the court that its reporting was accurate and in the public interest, the BBC reported. Lawyers for the newspaper also described Clarke’s conspiracy claim as a “wild allegation”.
The Guardian published multiple articles in which Clarke was accused of various incidents of misconduct by 20 women between 2004 and 2019.
The actor, producer, and director, best known for work such as Kidulthood and its two follow-up movies, has denied all of the allegations and said the articles have had a “catastrophic” effect on his career.
“A sexual predator is not a womaniser, or someone who has had an extramarital affair, or a flirt, or a man who looks for mutually beneficial opportunities for sexual intercourse,” Clarke’s lawyers said in court today.
“Mr Clarke is absolutely not, and never has been, a sexual predator. The Guardian has got it plum wrong.”
According to PA, Clarke’s lawyer continued: “The Guardian acted like archaeologists, and tried to dig up the past. They came up with a story that had more holes than a colander.”
Clarke is said to be looking for damages of around $12m (£10m) in the defamation suit. Alongside claiming general damages for reputational harm, Clarke is looking for damages that cover specific financial losses. Clarke’s claim says The Guardian’s articles had a “devastating” impact on his finances, according to the BBC, with the actor claiming “every existing or upcoming contract” he had was canceled following The Guardian’s reports.
Clarke’s claim says he has “not had one single work contract” since the first Guardian article about him was published in April 2021. Clarke is claiming aggravated damages for what his lawyers describe as the “relentless, targeted, vicious and persistent nature of the wholly unjustified defamatory campaign” mounted against him by the Guardian.
