Noel Clarke had life ‘smashed’ by Guardian misconduct allegations, court told

Actor Noel Clarke has accused the publisher of the Guardian of having “smashed my life” and said he is “not what they have branded me” as he gave evidence at his High Court libel trial.

The 49-year-old is suing Guardian News and Media (GNM) over seven articles and a podcast, including an article in April 2021 that said 20 women who knew him professionally had come forward with allegations of misconduct.

Clarke denies the allegations, while GNM is defending its reporting as being both true and in the public interest.

Giving evidence on Monday, Clarke said barristers for the publisher were making accusations “for headlines to smash my life, which you have already done”.

Responding to questions about his alleged misconduct involving one woman, known as “Penelope”, Clarke became emotional and his voice was heard to break.

He said: “They have smashed my life for four years with this rubbish, this nonsense. Four years.”

He continued: “I did not do this, I would not do this. I have got children. This is not true.”

He later said that while he was “a flawed guy”, he added: “The reason I stand here four years later is I am not what they have branded me.”

The actor denied accusations made by “Penelope” that he “giggled” after getting an erection during the shooting of a sex scene.

Cross-examining Clarke, Gavin Millar KC, for GNM, said: “You giggled, saying ‘look what you have done to me’.”

Clarke replied: “Definitely not. We were under immense time pressure.”

He continued: “These scenes can be embarrassing, but there was no giggling.”

He added: “In terms of me having an erection, that did not happen. There were 20 people in the room. Where are the people who saw it?”

He also stated that the scene was “meticulously planned”, including not wearing modesty patches, which was “agreed” beforehand and that “nobody had any problems with”.

He continued that the scene was “discussed beforehand with her and was completely agreed before the shooting of the movie”.

He told Mr Millar: “You are attacking my art, because of how I choose to direct my films, and it is egregious.”

Mr Millar told the court of allegations made by another woman, known as “Sophia”, including that he “grabbed her hand and put it on your crotch”, and grabbed her “by the throat”.

Clarke described the allegations as “nonsense” and told the court that he and “Sophia” had continued to discuss working together after the alleged incident, and that she had “completely mixed herself up in her own lies”.

When asked by Mr Millar what he thought her motive was for lying, Clarke replied: “I think that Sophia is lying because she wanted attention.”

He continued: “I think she wanted to feel something, and wanted to feel part of something to be believed.”

He added: “Unfortunately this particular person is telling flat-out lies.”

The trial in London will only deal with liability and not the assessment of any damages.

Clarke has increased his claim for special damages to more than £70 million, and also wants to bring a claim over allegations that multiple people conspired against him using fabricated allegations of misconduct or sexual assault.

Philip Williams, for Clarke, told the court in written submissions that the actor “has clearly established the falsity of all of the allegations”.

The barrister continued that his client was “barely able to reply to the allegations” published by the Guardian and was “perceived as a criminal by all those who previously trusted and worked with him”.

Mr Millar said in his written submissions that the paper “did not simply accept what was said to it” and that “much time and resource was devoted to getting to the truth”.

He also said that there is “ample evidence” that all of the articles were true or substantially true.

The hearing before Mrs Justice Steyn is due to conclude in April, with a decision expected in writing at a later date.