Noel Clarke has lost his libel case against The Guardian.
In a highly-anticipated judgement that has felt years in the making, the judge rejected Clarke’s claim for damages in a case against the Guardian’s bombshell features that carried accusations of sexual misconduct from 30 women.
The Doctor Who star had been seeking £70M ($93M) in damages.
According to BBC News, Clarke’s team had said accusations that he was a “serial abuser of women” made across several articles and a podcast were false, arguing he was the victim of an “unlawful conspiracy” across days of testimony.
In response, the Guardian’s team defended what it said was a “careful and thorough investigation conducted conscientiously” by its journalists. There were 18 accounts of Clarke’s victims given in court. The judgment found that the meaning of each of the newspaper’s articles was “substantially true.”
According to the Guardian’s write-up of today’s news, the judgment means Clarke, who said his career had collapsed as a result of the articles, faces a hefty legal bill and may also be required to pay the bulk of the newspaper’s legal costs.
The story sent shockwaves through the British entertainment industry when the articles were published in summer 2021.
Clarke had in the prior days been given an outstanding diversity award by BAFTA and the industry was blindsided by the news. It has since led to a reckoning over the way in which talent treats more junior staffers, with other scandals involving the likes of Russell Brand and Gregg Wallace only fanning the flames. All deny wrongdoing.
Clarke created banger indie movie Kidulthood and had roles in the likes of Doctor Who, Star Trek Into Darkness and Viewpoint.
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