Rising Film Star in UK Charged With Rape

British actor Micheal Ward has been charged with rape and sexual assault, police said Friday. The Metropolitan Police force said the 27-year-old faces two counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The charges relate to one woman, and the offenses reportedly took place in January 2023, per the AP. The Crown Prosecution Service said it authorized the charges "having carefully reviewed a file of evidence."

The Jamaican-born Ward has appeared in such films as Blue Story, The Book of Clarence, and the recently released American political satire Eddington. In 2020 he won the Rising Star Award at the British Academy Film Awards. He was nominated for an acting BAFTA for Sam Mendes' Empire of Light and for a BAFTA TV award for the Steve McQueen-directed series Small Axe.

"I deny the charges against me entirely," Ward says in a statement, per the Guardian. "I have cooperated fully with the police throughout their investigation and will continue to cooperate." He adds that he has "full faith that [the proceedings] will lead to my name being cleared." Ward is due to appear at London's Thames Magistrates' Court on Aug. 28.