Noel Clarke set to sue The Guardian for £10 million in damages due to allegations of sexual misconduct
London’s High Court is set to examine eight articles by The Guardian to determine if they were fact or a matter of opinion before any ruling.
Former Doctor Who and Kidulthood actor Noel Clarke is reportedly set to sue British publication The Guardian for what he considers as damages to his career, after the newspaper published articles claiming sexual misconduct with 20 actresses the 47 year old had previously worked with.
Clarke has always denied all the allegations across eight different articles published by the newspaper starting from April 2021, which he stated had a “catastrophic” effect on his career, leading to a financial loss of an estimated £10,140,000, the BBC reports. That amount equates to the contracts that Clarke lost during the height of the allegations made, which saw him axed from Sky TV show “Bulletproof” as well as ITV's “Viewpoint” and Channel 5's “Highwater.”
Documents have been lodged at London's High Court as part of a libel case against The Guardian, with a judge set to decide what damages he is entitled to should he be successful with his defamation claim. The Guardian currently haven’t appeared to have filed an official defence with the court, but Clarke's legal team assert in court papers that "it appears from the pre-action correspondence" that the paper appears "to be intent on robustly defending" the case
In the UK, defamation cases are based on the plaintiffs making the claims against to demonstrate a “burden of proof”; in this case, Clarke would have to demonstrate that his loss of work, including his membership to BAFTA suspended alongside his Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema award that he had been presented with at the 2021 ceremony, was based upon the eight articles The Guardian had penned.
The Metropolitan Police said in March 2022 there was not enough evidence against him to warrant a criminal investigation, leading to the defamation case that will be presided by Mrs Justice Steyn, who made an order that to give Mr Clarke the time to do this, the hearing has been rescheduled to take place in October or early November 2023.
A hearing at the High Court in London, to determine the exact meanings of the articles and if they are statements of fact or opinion, was originally meant to take place tomorrow (July 20), but was rescheduled after Clarke’s wish to instruct new solicitors.