Clarke said he kept explicit photos 'as collateral', court hears

Noel Clarke told an actor that he kept explicit photos of women he had sex with to use as "collateral" in case they wanted to speak out about him or tell his wife, the high court has heard.

- Haroon Siddique

Clarke, 49, is suing the Guardian over publications from 2021-22 accusing him of sexual misconduct, based on allegations from more than 20 women.

Johannah Whyte, an actor and content creator, whose stage name is Jahannah James, said Clarke was like a "big brother" to her who had helped her early in her career but she felt "violated" and "betrayed" when she found out in 2017 he had filmed her nude audition for the film Legacy, more than four years earlier.

In her witness statement, she also 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. "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 vagina 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."