'Doctor Who' Actor Noel Clarke Faces Allegations of Sexual Misconduct and Verbal Abuse From 20 Women

Noel Clarke, an English actor, screenwriter, and director best known for playing Mickey Smith in Doctor Who, is being accused of using his position in the entertainment industry to sexually assault and verbally abuse a number of women. The allegations against Clarke come from 20 different women and date back to 2004, reports The Guardian. They range from making sexually inappropriate comments on set and other professional misconduct to taking and sharing sexually explicit photographs and videos of women without their consent. Their stories paint a portrait of a serial abuser who regularly used his influence to manipulate and prey on the women working with and for him.

Although a number of women who spoke to The Guardian about the alleged harassment and abuse Clarke inflicted upon them chose to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, they reportedly work across all areas and levels of the industry.

Gina Powell, a producer who worked for Clarke between 2014 and 2017, said that Clarke would constantly harass her, on one occasion telling her he had planned “to fuck her and fire her.” Clarke also allegedly exposed himself to Powell and later groped her while the two were on a work trip. After assaulting her, Clarke allegedly told Powell that he had gotten “what he was owed.”

Powell also claims that Clarke would brag about having sexually explicit photographs and videos, including footage that Clarke told her he had secretly filmed during naked auditions. Clarke allegedly showed Powell the video he had secretly recorded of the nude audition of actress Jahannah James, who was an actor in Clarke’s 2016 film Brotherhood.

Clarke’s alleged harassment can be traced back to the beginning of his career—specifically to the 2006 film Kidulthood, which he wrote and starred in. An actress in the film, who was only a teenager when she auditioned for the role, says that Clarke’s sexual harassment of her on set was constant. When she refused to film a sex scene with Clarke for Adulthood, the sequel to Kidulthood, Clarke allegedly threatened to tank her career. “He said: ‘You’ll never work again,’” she told The Guardian.

Actor and screenwriter Jing Lusi alleges that Clarke propositioned her during dinner while they were working together on the film SAS: Red Notice in 2018. But once Lusi made it clear she was not going to have sex with him, Clarke’s demeanor shifted. “After he realized that it was not going to happen, he then absolutely without any emotion [said]: ‘All right, fine, don’t tell anyone about this, yeah? ’Cause if you do, it will get back to me, I will find out.’”

The allegations against Clarke also involve violating industry ethical standards while filming sex and nude scenes for his films. Helen Atherton, an art director on Brotherhood, alleges that Clarke regularly violated industry norms for the ethical filming of sex or nude scenes. “There were about 10 random people behind me, watching [on monitors],” Atherton said about filming one nude scene in the movie. “It appeared they turned up to watch the naked girls.

A number of crew members who have worked with Clarke told The Guardian stories of him trying to grope and kiss them without their consent, and others say that Clarke sent them sexually inappropriate photographs. Clarke’s alleged abusive behavior also manifested in open bullying and verbal abuse of his colleagues on set. In one instance, his bullying of a young script supervisor on the set of Brotherhood allegedly became so severe that she had a panic attack while working and chose to leave the industry entirely.

Prior to the publication of The Guardian article, Clarke got wind that allegations of sexual misconduct were being made against him and reportedly contacted a number of people, including actress Jahannah James, in an apparent attempt to figure out who might be talking to reporters. During a phone call with James, Clarke denied the allegations being made against him, saying: “If there’s someone that was like a consensual that’s changed their mind five years later, well, firstly, that’s fucking ridiculous. Secondly, they still have to prove it. And I’m not trying to be that guy that’s like: hahaha I’m guilty, prove it. I’m not trying to be that guy. But they still have to prove it.”

In a 29-page letter from his lawyers, Clarke denied almost every single allegation made against him by the women who spoke to The Guardian.