UK actor-director-producer Noel Clarke filmed a female actor's nude audition and kept explicit photos of women he slept with as "collateral", London's High Court has heard testimony from a Guardian witness in Clarke's libel claim against the UK newspaper.
Speaking on Monday (March 24), actor Johannah Whyte, whose stage name is Jahannah James, said that she found out in 2017 that Clarke had filmed her naked audition for the 2014 feature Legacy. Whyte told the court that Clarke had been like a "big brother" to her early in her career but felt "violated" and "betrayed" when she found out he filmed the audition. Clarke produced Legacy, a comedy drama directed by Dave Fairbanks and Marc Small, via Clarke's production company Unstoppable Productions.
Whyte said it was her friend Gina Powell, who had worked for Clarke at Unstoppable Productions, who informed her of the existence of the video. Whyte also stated she felt "devastated" and "disgusted" by the fact.
Clarke's barrister Philip Williams said his client denied the existence of the video and claimed Powell had a "financial grudge" against Clarke and his production company, and concocted the allegations with Whyte as a result. In her witness statement, Whyte recounted a conversation with Clarke from 2016 when she said he told her that he had slept with her friend Ivy (not her real name), who gave evidence on Friday.
"I said I did not believe him and told him he should not say that about my friend," Whyte said in her statement.
"He told me he could prove it because he kept a hard drive of photos and every time he slept with someone he would get them to take a photo of their private part to use as 'collateral', in case they ever wanted to speak about him or try to tell his wife, and he said he would save it and keep it."