Thirty-two people are to give evidence in support of the Guardian’s defence of legal action brought against it by the actor and producer Noel Clarke.
The details were set out on Monday at the high court in London in a pre-trial review hearing before a defamation and data protection trial, scheduled to start at the beginning of March.
Clarke, best known for his Kidulthood film trilogy, is suing the Guardian for libel over articles published in 2021 and 2022 after an investigation that set out multiple claims of misconduct against him.
The first article reported allegations from 20 women, including complaints of unwanted touching or groping, sexually inappropriate behaviour and comments on set, and taking and sharing sexually explicit pictures and videos without consent.
Subsequent articles reported that several more individuals had come forward to make similar allegations.
In written submissions for the hearing on Monday, Gavin Millar KC, representing the Guardian, described the case as “the most substantial piece of libel litigation to come before the court in recent years”.
The submission states that the Guardian has served 34 signed witness statements, of whom 32 will give evidence for the Guardian at the trial, which is expected to last six weeks.
Six editorial staff, including senior editors, will provide evidence that the allegations against Clarke were the subject of careful reporting and published in the public interest.
The other 26 will all give testimony saying they were the victims of – or witnesses to – serious misconduct by Clarke, or can “otherwise corroborate” the allegations.
Referring to its witnesses, who are giving evidence relating to allegations of misconduct by Clarke against a total of 22 women, the Guardian’s skeleton argument said: “They give evidence that they were the victims of or witnesses to serious misconduct by C (claimant) or its aftermath; or otherwise corroborate the pleaded allegations in the truth defence.”
Clarke has denied any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing. He accepted he once made inappropriate comments about one woman, for which he later apologised.
He will attempt at trial to persuade the court that it should not accept either of the Guardian’s truth or public interest defences.
Clarke said in November 2023: “I have always disputed the content of the eight Guardian articles.”
He has said his media career collapsed as a result of the articles. After the publication of the report, Bafta suspended a lifetime achievement award that it had given him the previous week and ITV declined to broadcast the final episode of the thriller Viewpoint, in which Clarke was starring.
Clarke’s legal team confirmed he intends to call on 15 witness for the trial, the submission states.
