Entertainment
Noel Clarke stripped of another award as British Urban Film Festival revokes honour following misconduct claims
Noel Clarke has been stripped of his British Urban Film Festival award following allegations of misconduct from 20 women – which the actor has vehemently denied.
On Thursday the Viewpoint star issued a statement denying claims raised in a Guardian report, before Bafta suspended his membership, as well as the recently presented Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema award.
Following this, the chairman and founder of BUFF, Emmanuel Anyiam-Osigwe, announced that not only would Clarke be stripped of the honorary award he received in 2019, but Anyiam-Osigwe and managing director Clare Anyiam-Osigwe would be revoking memberships with Bafta.
In a statement on Twitter Friday morning, Anyiam-Osigwe wrote: ‘As the result of a newspaper report which documented the recent conduct of one of our partner organisations and the alleged historic conduct of a previous winner of a BUFF award, senior management at The British Urban Film Festival met late last night to discuss what action to take as a result of these revelations.
‘Consequently, I’ve taken the decision to revoke our status as a @BAFTA qualifying festival with immediate effect.
‘Also, both I & @clareanyiamo will revoke our BAFTA voting memberships with immediate effect.
‘Furthermore @buffconnects will also strip @NoelClarke of the honorary award he received from @TheBUFFAwards in 2019 – with immediate effect.’
Bafta had earlier released a statement confirming it had revoked not only Clarke’s membership but also the award he was presented with earlier this month.
The academy said: ‘In light of the allegations of serious misconduct regarding Noel Clarke in The Guardian, Bafta has taken the decision to suspend his membership and the Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema award immediately and until further notice.’
The latest suspension comes after 20 women accused the actor and director of various incidents of misconduct in a professional capacity between 2004 and 2019.
In a statement to the Guardian, Clarke denied all claims.
He said: ‘In a 20-year career, I have put inclusivity and diversity at the forefront of my work and never had a complaint made against me. If anyone who has worked with me has ever felt uncomfortable or disrespected, I sincerely apologise. I vehemently deny any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing and intend to defend myself against these false allegations.’
The Guardian claims that Clarke categorically denied all of the allegations bar one through his lawyers, accepting he once made inappropriate comments about one woman, for which he later apologised.
Management and production company 42 M&P said it stopped representing Clarke earlier this month.
A spokesman said: ‘Noel Clarke was a client of 42 M&P until April this year but the company no longer represents him.’
Metro.co.uk contacted reps of Noel for comment on the allegations.
MORE : Will ITV series Viewpoint be pulled following the Noel Clarke allegations?
