Noel Clarke (Brotherhood) has sued BAFTA (The British Academy Of Film And Television Arts) for defamation after the Academy made the decision to suspend his membership after the actor was accused of alleged sexual harassment, alleged sexual abuse, and alleged bullying, according to Deadline. The Metropolitan Police Department announced last month they were suspending their investigation into the accusations against Clarke.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said they had “determined the information would not meet the threshold for a criminal investigation.”
According to Deadline, Clarke filed the lawsuit against BAFTA at London’s High Court last week. Last year, The Academy awarded Clarke with an award for outstanding contribution to British cinema, but then suspended the award after an article from The Guardian was published with over 20 women accusing Clarke of alleged sexual harassment, alleged sexual abuse, and alleged bullying.
In response to Clarke’s lawsuit, a BAFTA spokesman released a statement on behalf of The Academy.
“A year ago, BAFTA was transparent about what led to Mr. Clarke’s award and membership being suspended following serious accusations of groping, harassment and bullying by 20 women published by The Guardian,” the spokesman said, per Deadline. “We stand by our decision and are very surprised by the news he now wishes to sue the arts charity. If proceedings are served, we will of course defend ourselves.”
Also named in the lawsuit are The Guardian Media Group as well as Conde Nast, who is the owner of GQ magazine. The magazine published an interview with the two journalists from The Guardian who boke the story.
Clarke has not appeared on screen since about a year ago, last appearing in his starring role as DC Martin Young in the miniseries Viewpoint, which released its latest episode at the end of April of last year, which is the same time the article by The Guardian was released. It is currently unclear if he has any upcoming projects of any sort .