Noel Clarke suspended by Bafta after misconduct allegations
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Former EastEnders actor James Alexandrou has said that he feels “ashamed” that he couldn’t do more to protect his friends. His revelations come after Noel Clarke was accused of sexual misconduct, claims which he denies.
This was long overdue
James Alexandrou
James, 36, is most famous for playing market trader Martin Fowler on the hit BBC soap EastEnders between 1996 to 2007.
The Hackney-born actor has claimed that many people he knew were scared of Noel Clarke, 45, “for too long”.
James has penned an emotional message to his 9,540 Twitter followers following the allegations surrounding Mr Clarke.
Noel Clarke has strongly denied any allegations made against him and insists he plans to “educate himself” in a statement.
Posting on Twitter, Mr Alexandrou said: “Noel Clarke Had too many of us scared for too long.
“I genuinely feel ashamed I didn’t do more to stand up for friends of mine he hurt.
“Innocent until proven guilty, but this was long overdue.”
It was reported on Wednesday by The Guardian that 20 women had come forward, claiming that the Kidulthood actor had committed offences between 2004 and 2019.
Clarke has also been accused of sharing sexually explicit pictures and videos of people without their consent.
Following the initial revelations, in a statement made to the PA News Agency, Mr Clarke said: “I vehemently deny any sexual misconduct or criminal wrongdoing.
“Recent reports however have made it clear to me that some of my actions have affected people in ways I did not intend or realise.
“To those individuals, I am deeply sorry. I will be seeking professional help to educate myself and change for the better.”
Yesterday, a spokesperson for The Metropolitan Police force confirmed to Express.co.uk that in light of the claims, they had received a further report.
They said: “On Wednesday 21 April police received a third party report relating to allegations of sexual offences committed by a male over a period of time.”
While at the time of publication, there is no active investigation, the force added: “Officers are currently assessing the information.”
“We would urge anyone who believes they have been subjected to a sexual offence to report this to police so the information can be assessed and investigated accordingly.
“There are specially trained officers ready to provide advice and support.”
BAFTA recently revoked Clarke’s membership with the organisation and withdrew his recent award, while bosses at ITV made the last-minute decision to pull the final episode of his series Viewpoint from their scheduling.
The broadcaster who has a “zero-tolerance policy” towards bullying, harassment and victimisation and has “robust procedures” in place to investigate such claims, said that it would no longer be appropriate to share the episode, but that it would be available on the ITV Hub for a short period of time.
Noel’s Viewpoint co-star Alexandra Roach told her 18,000 Twitter followers that she was “thankful” for the group of women who showed “bravery” to put an end to sexual misconduct in the entertainment industry.
She went on to add: “Sending a big hug to all the cast and crew who worked so very hard on Viewpoint.”
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