Noel Clarke has been ordered to pay at least £3m of The Guardian publisher’s legal costs after losing his “far-fetched” libel case over allegations of sexual misconduct reported by the newspaper.

The first article, published in April 2021, said some 20 women who knew the actor and filmmaker in a professional capacity had come forward with allegations including harassment and sexually inappropriate behaviour.

Clarke, best known for his 2006 film Kidulthood and for starring in Doctor Who, sued Guardian News and Media (GNM) over seven articles in total, as well as a podcast, and vehemently denied “any sexual misconduct or wrongdoing”.

Following a trial earlier this year, a High Court judge found the newspaper’s reporting was substantially true, agreeing with the publisher’s defence of its reporting as both true and in the public interest.

At a hearing to determine costs on Tuesday, Clarke represented himself – saying in written submissions to the court that his legal team had resigned as he was unable to provide funding for the hearing.

Mrs Justice Steyn ruled that he must pay £3m ahead of a detailed assessment into the total costs to be recovered, which lawyers for the publisher estimated to be more than £6m.

“The claimant maintained a far-fetched and indeed a false case that the articles were not substantially true, by pursuing allegations of dishonesty and bad faith against almost all of the defendant’s truth witnesses,” the judge said.

The sum of £3m sought by GNM was “appropriate and no more than what ought to be reasonably ordered in this case”, she added, and “substantially lower than the defendant’s likely level of recovery”.

Clarke, 49, told the court he used ChatGPT to prepare his response to GNM’s barrister Gavin Millar KC, who asked the judge to order £3m as an interim payment – which he said was “significantly less” than the “norm” of asking for 75%-80%.

The actor described the proposed costs order as “excessive”, “inflated” and “caused by their own choices”, and asked the court to “consider both the law and the human reality of these proceedings”.

He also requested for the order on costs be held, pending an appeal.

“I have not been vexatious and I have not tried to play games with the court,” Clarke said. “I have lost my work, my savings, my legal team, my ability to support my family and much of my health.

“My wife and children live every day under the shadow of uncertainty. We remortgaged our home just to survive.

“Any costs or interim payments must be proportionate to my means as a single household, not the unlimited resources of a major media conglomerate.

“A crushing order would not just punish me, it would punish my children and wife, and they do not deserve that.”

Detailing GNM’s spend, Mr Millar said about 40,000 documents, including audio recordings and transcripts, had to be reviewed as a result of Clarke bringing the case against then. He highlighted a number of “misconceived applications” made by the actor which “required much work from the defendant’s lawyers in response”.

During the trial, the actor accused GNM – as well as a number of women who made accusations against him – of being part of a conspiracy aiming to destroy his career.

This conspiracy allegation “massively increased the scale and costs of the litigation by giving rise to a whole new unpleaded line of attack against witnesses and third parties,” Mr Millar said in written submissions to the court.

Clarke originally asked for damages of £10m, increasing to £40m and then £70m as the case progressed, the barrister said.

He must now pay GNM the £3m within 28 days, Mrs Justice Steyn ruled.

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Sean “Diddy” Combs’s lawyers have called for the music mogul to be given no more than 14 months in prison when he is sentenced next month – meaning he would walk free almost immediately.

In a new written legal submission, the defence team also detailed “inhumane” conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York – saying food sometimes contains maggots, that the rapper is routinely subjected to violence, and that he has “not breathed fresh air in nearly 13 months”.

Combs, 55, was found guilty of two prostitution-related charges following his high-profile trial in the summer, but cleared of the more serious charges of sex-trafficking and racketeering conspiracy.

He has already served a year in custody in New York following his arrest in September 2024, and is due to be sentenced on 3 October.

His defence lawyers have now made their arguments for sentencing in a written submission to Judge Arun Subramanian, who heard the trial.

“In the past two years, Mr Combs’s career and reputation have been destroyed,” his lawyers said in the document. “He has served over a year in one of the most notorious jails in America – yet has made the most of that punishment.”

They said Combs has been “adequately punished” already, having been jailed in “terrible conditions”. He has also become sober “for the first time in 25 years” and had an “incident-free record”, they added, and helped other inmates by creating an educational programme on business management and entrepreneurship.

It is now time for the rapper “to go home to his family, so he can continue his treatment and try to make the most of the next chapter of his extraordinary life”, the defence team said.

‘Maggots and limited clean water’

The defence’s submission provides new information about what life behind bars has been like for Combs, a Grammy-winning artist and Bad Boy Records founder who was one of the most influential hip-hop producers of the 1990s and 2000s, and for his family and previous associates.

The rapper had to let more than 100 employees go from his businesses following his arrest, it said, and many have been unable to find work due to their previous association with him.

Combs’s seven children have also faced “devastating consequences”, according to the legal filing, including lost business opportunities in acting, television, fashion and music.

The rapper and his family were also set to star in a Hulu show about their lives, but the show was cancelled once the allegations against him became public.

Combs was removed from the boards at three charter schools he created in Harlem, the Bronx and Connecticut and was also stripped of an honorary doctorate degree from Howard University, which plans to return his prior donations, it said.

The defence’s document also goes into detail about the alleged conditions at the detention centre where Combs is being held.

“Mr Combs is routinely subject to violence – both directed at him and at others,” they said. On 12 September, they said members of the defence counsel were in the middle of a call with the rapper that had to be ended suddenly “because of a stabbing that locked the facility down for the next several days”.

Living conditions are “inhumane”, they argued, and Combs has been “under constant suicide watch”, meaning every two hours he “must present his identification card to the guards to show he is alive and well. While he is sleeping, he is awoken by an officer to ensure he is well and subjected to bright lights illuminated 24 hours per day”.

He also has limited access to clean water, they said, and often “heats his water to have clean water to drink without getting sick”.

Describing the dorm-style room he sleeps in, they said he is within “two feet from other inmates with the bathroom in the same room, with no door”.

Read more:
How the trial unfolded
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs

The rapper “has not breathed fresh air in nearly 13 months, or felt sunlight on his skin”, the document added, while food “on any given day can contain maggots”.

The judge has already rejected a proposed $50m bail package for Combs.

Prosecutors, who will also submit their recommendations for sentencing ahead of the hearing, have already said they will call for him to remain in prison for a substantial period.

Combs was found guilty of two counts of transportation for engagement in prostitution – for flying girlfriends and male sex workers around the US and abroad for sexual encounters referred to as “freak offs”. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Late night TV show presenter Jimmy Kimmel, who was taken off the air following a row over comments about Charlie Kirk, will return on Tuesday.

Kimmel, who was accused of being “offensive and insensitive” because of what he said on his show last Monday, will go back on air in his regular slot.

Disney said in a statement: “Last Wednesday, we made the decision to suspend production on the show to avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country.

“It is a decision we made because we felt some of the comments were ill-timed and thus insensitive.

“We have spent the last days having thoughtful conversations with Jimmy, and after those conversations, we reached the decision to return the show on Tuesday.”

Earlier today, hundreds of Hollywood stars signed an open letter to defend free speech following Kimmel’s suspension.

Robert De Niro, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Anniston, Selena Gomez, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep are among those who have penned the appeal.

More than 430 of the stars, including comedians, directors and writers, urged Americans to “fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights”.

The letter is addressed to the American Civil Liberties Union, and argues the decision was a “dark moment for freedom of speech in our nation”.

The letter adds: “Regardless of our political affiliation, or whether we engage in politics or not, we all love our country.

“We also share the belief that our voices should never be silenced by those in power – because if it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.”

The list of signatures also includes Emmy-winner Noah Wyle, Oscar-nominated Florence Pugh, comedian David Cross, Tony-winner Kelli O’Hara and Molly Ringwald. Pedro Pascal, Billy Crystal, Nathan Lane, Kerry Washington and Kevin Bacon have also signed the letter.

The letter concludes: “This is the moment to defend free speech across our nation. We encourage all Americans to join us, along with the ACLU, in the fight to defend and preserve our constitutionally protected rights.”

Kimmel had used his show to accuse President Donald Trump and his allies of capitalising on the conservative influencer’s assassination.

He said: “We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterise this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.”

Speaking about Trump, he added: “This is not how an adult grieves the murder of someone he calls a friend. This is how a four-year-old mourns a goldfish.”

“Many in MAGA land are working very hard to capitalise on the murder of Charlie Kirk,” he continued.

The Disney-owned ABC pulled the show following criticism from Brendan Carr, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.

Mr Carr had threatened to “take action” against Disney and ABC.

In an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson, he said: “We can do this the easy way or the hard way”.

Mr Carr then praised the move, saying “it is important for broadcasters to push back on Disney programming that they determine falls short of community values”.

But the decision sparked a global, furious backlash from the public and high-profile figures around the world.

Among them was former US President Barack Obama, who said on X: “After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.”

He added: “This is precisely the kind of government coercion that the First Amendment was designed to prevent – and media companies need to start standing up rather than capitulating to it.”

The decision came at a time Disney and Nexstar, the network operator, had FCC business ahead of them, with the former seeking regulatory approval for ESPN’s acquisition of the NFL Network and the latter need the Trump administrations approval to complete a $6.2billion purchase of broadcast rival, Tegna.

Trump, who was on a state visit of the UK at the time, said Kimmel had been cut for “bad ratings”.

He had said: “Well, Jimmy Kimmel was fired because he had bad ratings, more than anything else.

“And he said a horrible thing about a great gentleman known as Charlie Kirk.”

He added: “Jimmy Kimmel is not a talented person. He had very bad ratings, and they should have fired him a long time ago.

“So, you know, you could call that free speech or not. He was fired for lack of talent.”