Michael Ward, who plays Jamie in the show Top Boy has been charged with five rape-related charges in London.
In a statement on Friday, London Metropolitan Police said all five charges were related to the same woman. She claims the Top Boy star assaulted her in January 2023.
Born in Jamaica and raised in London, Ward most recently appeared in Aster’s new COVID-era film Eddington alongside big names like Joaquin Phoenix, Emma Stone, and Pedro Pascal.
He does have a more established career in the UK, where he starred in the Netflix crime drama Top Boy from 2019 to 2022. He also won the BAFTA Rising Star Award in 2020 after starring in Steve McQueen’s Small Axe.
Apparently, immediately after the charges were annonuced, Olivia Bell Management, which represents Ward in the UK, told Deadline it had dropped the actor.
His talent agency in the U.S, CAA, has not yet released a statement on the charges.
In a statement to the Guardian, Ward strongly denied the charges against him, but said he had “cooperated fully with the police throughout their investigation and will continue to cooperate.”
“Proceedings are now ongoing, and I have full faith that they will lead to my name being cleared,” added the actor.
Ward is now set to appear before the Thames Magistrates’ Court on August 28. And I will definitely provide updates as they come.
I do have a question. Is 2025 the year of reckoning for sexual abusers? From Diddy to Shannon Sharpe and now allegedly Micheal Ward. Is there something in the air? Do let me know in the comments.
