Sky cuts ties with star as charity explains award process

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Sky has halted all work with Noel Clarke and Bafta has explained how it came to hand the star a major award as the fallout from yesterday’s allegations continues.

In a statement this morning (30 April), the Comcast-owned broadcaster said it will no longer work with Clarke.

A fourth series of Clarke and Ashley Walters’ Sky 1’s Bulletproof was due to enter production later this year.

It is produced by Vertigo Films rather than Clarke’s Unstoppable Film & Television and it is feasible that the show continues without Clarke’s involvement.

“Sky stands against all forms of sexual harassment and bullying and takes any allegations of this nature extremely seriously,” said a spokesman.

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

Sky said it did not receive any reports or allegations of sexual misconduct or harassment during the first three series of Bulletproof.

A Vertigo spokeswoman added that it will not work Clarke in future. ”Our immediate concern is for any cast or crew who may have had a negative experience on set,” she added. “We have robust procedures in place for reporting incidents, including the ability to raise issues anonymously. And while no issues have been flagged to us, we stand ready to support anyone who has had a negative experience on the show and encourage you to come forward with confidence.”

The Guardian published accusations from around 20 women last night against Clarke for sexual misconduct and harassment, allegations which Clarke has denied.

Clarke has also been leading this week’s stripped ITV drama Viewpoint (Tiger Aspect) and, at time of writing, the broadcaster had not issued a statement over whether tonight’s finale will go ahead and whether it will remain on ITV Hub.

All3Media, the backer of Unstoppable Film & TV, has also commenced a probe into his behaviour. “We are looking into this as a matter of urgency,” said a spokesman.

I May Destroy You creator Michaela Coel, whose BBC1 hit focused on consent and sexual assault, also issued a statement in which she said she stands with the 20 women “in their indignation”.

“Speaking out about these incidents takes a lot of strength because some call them ‘grey areas’,” said Coel, who has been open in the past about her experience of sexual assault while working on her hit comedy Chewing Gum.

“These behaviours are unprofessional, violent and can destroy a person’s perception of themselves, their place in the world and their career irreparably.”

Bafta

Meanwhile, Bafta has issued a statement explaining how events unfolded, having handed Clarke an outstanding contribution award earlier this month.

Bafta said it had received “anonymous emails of allegations in relation to Clarke” shortly after it announced he would be receiving the award.

The allegations were either “anonymous or second or third accounts via intermediaries”, added the statement, which stressed that no names, times, dates, productions or other details were provided.

“Had the victims gone on record as they have with The Guardian, the award would have been suspended immediately,” added the statement, which was signed by Bafta chair Krishnendu Majumdar and chief executive Amanda Berry.

“Our lawyers have advised us every step of the way during this process to ensure we handled the matter correctly.

“Given that we did not have any of the personal testimony that The Guardian produced we were in an invidious situation and it would have been improper to halt the award at that point based on the extremely limited information that we had where the ultimate sources were unknown.”

Bafta stressed the matter had been “treated with the utmost seriousness, care and proper process at every stage”.

Bafta statement in full

You may have seen the story in today’s Guardian regarding BAFTA member and recent Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema (OBCC) award recipient Noel Clarke.

We are grateful that The Guardian was able to provide a platform where the victims were able to identify themselves, and to come forward and tell their stories.

As soon as The Guardian published firsthand accounts yesterday we immediately suspended the award and Noel Clarke’s membership of BAFTA until further notice. 

We wanted to inform you of the background to this situation to give you the full picture.

To be very clear, we did not know about any allegations relating to Noel Clarke prior to the announcement of the OBCC award on 29 March.

We want to reassure you that we have treated this matter with the utmost seriousness, care and proper process at every stage. The BAFTA Board of Trustees has remained right across this matter, has met a number of times and are fully supportive of all actions taken.

The allegations against Mr Clarke are extremely serious and the behaviour they allege are contrary to BAFTA’s values and everything it stands for. But no matter how abhorrent these allegations are, they cannot be dealt with without due process. BAFTA is an arts charity that is not in a position to properly investigate such matters.

In the days following the announcement, BAFTA received anonymous emails of allegations in relation to Noel Clarke. These were either anonymous or second or thirdhand accounts via intermediaries. No firsthand allegations were sent to us. No names, times, dates, productions or other details were ever provided.

Had the victims gone on record as they have with The Guardian, the award would have been suspended immediately. Noel Clarke’s counsel received a legal notice to this effect. It was always very clear what our intentions would be.

We asked for individuals to come forward with their accounts and identify themselves, as they have done with The Guardian, but due to the anonymous claims and the lack of firsthand specificity, we did not have sufficient grounds to take action.

We completely understand why the individuals were extremely fearful to identify themselves to us, and we recognise how hard it is for victims to speak up. First, we encouraged them to report the incidents to their representatives, employers and/or the police. We then gave further advice as to which organisations could provide affected individuals with appropriate support.

Additionally, we were conscious of how hard it is to report these issues and as a result we put in place an independent, appropriately qualified person with whom the victims could discuss the issues raised in a safe and confidential environment.

The expert has a huge amount of experience working with individuals who have suffered sexual harassment, bullying and abuse and who understands the fear and reluctance of individuals to identify themselves. The expert is a leading advisor on establishing safe centres for women and is able to lead individuals through their different options. This process involved seeking advice on the correct individual, appointing them and fully briefing them. We wanted to ensure that we had the right person in place.

We acted as quickly and supportively as we could, even though we had only received the most generic of claims and no actual firsthand information to investigate allegations which were potentially of a criminal nature.

Having received the same anonymous emails, Noel Clarke contacted BAFTA, urgently requesting a conversation and sending numerous texts to do. We confronted him with the anonymous allegations, which he strongly denied.

Our lawyers have advised us every step of the way during this process to ensure we handled the matter correctly. Given that we did not have any of the personal testimony that The Guardian produced we were in an invidious situation and it would have been improper to halt the award at that point based on the extremely limited information that we had where the ultimate sources were unknown.

As you are aware, BAFTA has taken action against individuals who have been accused of similar behaviour in the past but in those cases we were able to do so because there was evidence that allowed us to take action.

We very much regret that women felt unable to provide us with the kind of firsthand testimony that has now appeared in The Guardian. Had we been in receipt of this, we would never have presented the award to Noel Clarke.

Krish and Amanda

Krishnendu Majumdar Chair

Amanda Berry Chief Executive

If you would like to speak to someone about bullying or harassment you can call the Film and TV Charity’s 24-hour Support Line 0800 054 00 00 to speak to a bullying advisor or use their online resources www.filmtvcharity.org.uk/bullying

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