Noel Clarke: Sky ‘halts’ work with actor after sexual harassment allegations

Clarke co-wrote and stars in the broadcaster’s crime drama Bulletproof

Sky has “halted” its work with actor Noel Clarke after allegations of sexual harassment were made against him by 20 women.

Clarke starred in and co-created Sky’s crime drama Bulletproof, a fourth series of which was commissioned in January.

“Effective immediately, we have halted Noel Clarke’s involvement in any future Sky productions,” the broadcaster said.

The Kidulthood and Doctor Who star, 45, has “vehemently” denied “any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing”.

In a statement on Thursday (29 April), he said he intended to “defend myself against these false allegations”.

The allegations from 20 women came to light in a Guardian investigation. All of the women knew Clarke in a professional capacity and told the publication in various accounts that he had engaged in incidents of sexual harassment, unwanted touching, groping, sexually inappropriate behaviour, bullying, or unprofessional misconduct between 2004 and 2019.

In its statement on Friday (30 April), Sky added: “Sky stands against all forms of sexual harassment and bullying and takes any allegations of this nature extremely seriously.”

The award-winning actor and producer has been suspended by Bafta while it investigates the allegations.

Earlier this month, Clarke was honoured with the Bafta for Outstanding Contribution to Cinema.

Clarke, who also received the Bafta Rising Star award in 2009, is an influential filmmaker and actor in the UK. He became known for his role as Mickey Smith in Doctor Who from 2005 to 2010.

He is also behind the trio of films Kidulthood (2006), Adulthood (2008), and Brotherhood (2016), having written the screenplays for all three. Clarke also directed the two latter installments and portrayed the character Sam Peel in all three films.