The culture of the television and film industries needs to change to protect women from the actions of sexual predators, women who gave evidence against Noel Clarke in his failed libel action have said.
“Noel’s behaviour was an open secret, everyone knew,” said Penelope, a pseudonym for an actor who filmed a sex scene with Clarke. “He didn’t work alone. Those who enabled and protected him should be accountable.
“He found a way to operate as he did because there is a culture across these industries of actors not being protected while at work and having no way of whistleblowing,” she told the Guardian after the court dismissed Clarke’s case on Friday.
Unless creative industries actively safeguarded women against sexual assault, harassment and abuse, “new Noel Clarkes will surface”, she said.
“I hope that there will be a cultural shift to prevent further sexual predators finding a place in the UK TV, film and theatre industries.”
Another woman, Helen Atherton, who testified about being repeatedly sexually harassed by Clarke at work, said: “Unfortunately I have had many conversations with female industry professionals since being involved in this case where they have shared their own experiences over the years of unwanted sexual attention, unprofessional, inappropriate or bullying behaviour from colleagues.”
Male colleagues who witnessed inappropriate behaviour had told her “they felt really conflicted about speaking out, and most didn’t at the time due to the power of the individual involved and their status on the production they were working on”.
Atherton said changes were under way in the film and TV industries to make them safer places to work. She said she hoped the revelations about Clarke would “encourage others who have been affected, or who are currently being affected, by similar experiences to speak out and not allow this behaviour to go unchallenged”.
She said: “In my experience, this behaviour has become less common but I think there is still a way to go before this is true across the industry as a whole. The regulation and accountability of powerful individuals needs to improve.”
Younger, less experienced workers in the industry should be encouraged to speak out “without the fear of causing trouble or receiving a tarnished reputation because you ‘made a fuss’”.
She said there should be zero tolerance of inappropriate and unreasonable behaviour, no matter what the person’s “power status, pay grade, fame, or how integral they are to the project”.
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Lisa Graham, who endured inappropriate sexual remarks, touching and suggestions of sex from Clarke when she was a volunteer at a film event, said she was relieved the case was over but angry the actor was able to brand witnesses as liars in court.
Under cross-examination by Clarke’s legal representatives, Graham was accused of exaggerating or embellishing her account. “But the reality is that the judge saw through him.”
Penelope was told by Clarke that the pair needed to be naked from the waist down while filming a sex scene. He insisted she look at his erect penis, making her feel “panicked and shocked”, she told the court.
After the court’s ruling, she said: “I have no joy in today’s verdict. It can never undo the awful behaviour of Noel Clarke against so many of us. I am simply relieved that at long last we have been heard, and that truth, in every sense, has won.
“Facing a sexual predator takes strength that can’t be explained. It’s been a very hard few years accepting and dealing with the trauma of all of this. I only hope no other women will have to go through it.”
Penelope, Atherton and Graham were among 26 witnesses who gave oral evidence regarding Clarke’s behaviour. Three more witnesses submitted statements to the court.
Clarke alleged that “almost all of the Guardian’s 29 witnesses to the truth defence are lying, at least in part, in the evidence they have given to the court”. The claim was dismissed by the court.