Chris Noth Accused of Sexual Assault by Four Women; Sex and the City Star Says Claims Are 'Categorically False'

Ryan Schwartz

Three women have come forward with allegations of sexual assault against Sex and the City star Chris Noth.

Two of the women, who did not know each other, separately approached The Hollywood Reporter, months apart, alleging that Noth raped them.

More from TVLine

In response to the allegations, Noth released the following statement to THR:

The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false. These stories could’ve been from 30 years ago or 30 days ago — no always means no — that is a line I did not cross. The encounters were consensual. It’s difficult not to question the timing of these stories coming out. I don’t know for certain why they are surfacing now, but I do know this: I did not assault these women.

TVLine has reached out to Noth’s representatives, as well as CBS and HBO Max, for comment.

The first accuser, Zoe, is now 40. (THR used pseudonyms for both women, to protect their privacy.) Zoe claims that she was raped in 2004. The then-22-year-old worked an entry-level job at a high-profile Los Angeles firm where Noth did business. The And Just Like That… star is said to have gotten her number from a directory and left several “flirty” voicemails on her work phone before she eventually accepted an invitation to come to the pool at his West Hollywood apartment complex.

She was accompanied by a friend, who corroborates the story.

Noth left a book for Zoe to look through before returning to his apartment to take a call, and asked that she return it to him once she was done. When she went upstairs, she says, Noth kissed her as soon as she stepped through the door. She says she kissed him back, then excused herself to return to her friend. That’s when he allegedly “pulled her toward him, moved her toward the bed, pulled off her shorts and bikini bottom, and began to rape her from behind.” Zoe claims that she yelled for him to stop, but he did not. And when she asked him to get a condom, he laughed.

Zoe returned to her friend with blood on her clothing, then went to Cedars-Sinai to get stitches. She reported the assault to the police, but did not specify that it was Noth who raped her. She eventually informed her boss (who confirms that she was in touch later that day), and two years later attended counseling at the UCLA Rape Crisis Center, which the center’s clinic director confirms to THR.

The second account comes from Lily, now 31, who alleges that Noth raped her in 2015. The 25-year-old worked as a server in the VIP section at a New York City nightclub, where she first met Noth and gave him her number. After they met for drinks at Il Cantinori — which happens to be the restaurant where Carrie celebrated her 30th birthday on SATC — Lily accompanied Noth back to his apartment when he made several attempts to make out with her before she got up to leave. That’s when he allegedly pulled down his pants and forced her to perform oral sex. She then describes him “having sex with me from the back in a chair,” also in front of a mirror.

After the incident, Lily’s friend Alex advised her to contact the police, but Lily refused and attempted to minimize the severity of what had happened. Alex claims that Noth left a voicemail for Lily to make sure that she didn’t take what had happened “the wrong way.” Lily says a voicemail Noth left her asked that she not talk to her girlfriends about their encounter.

On Friday, a third woman came forward to accuse Noth of sexual assault in The Daily Beast. She says that she met Noth while working as a hostess and singer at Manhattan restaurant Da Marino. According to her, Noth was a frequent customer and “always intoxicated,” and she recalls Noth pulling her onto his lap while groping her and “pressing me onto his erection.” That night, she went to the restaurant office to collect her paycheck and was allegedly cornered by Noth, who she says kissed her and digitally penetrated her despite her repeatedly saying no. Noth’s publicist told The Daily Beast that the actor “denies this as ever happening and has no idea who this woman is.”

Noth, who currently costars on CBS’ Equalizer reboot, recently reprised his role as Mr. Big in HBO Max’s Sex and the City revival And Just Like That…. His previous TV credits include starring roles in CBS’ The Good Wife and NBC’s Law & Order.

He also recently appeared in an ad for Peloton poking fun at Mr. Big’s demise in the And Just Like That… premiere. Peloton pulled the ad from its social media channels on Thursday after the allegations came to light and released a statement: “Every single sexual assault accusation must be taken seriously. We were unaware of these allegations when we featured Chris Noth in our response to HBO’s reboot. As we seek to learn more, we have stopped promoting this video and archived related social posts.”

Zoe Lister-Jones, who costarred on CBS’ Life in Pieces, called Noth “a sexual predator” in an Instagram post on Thursday, adding her own story about guest-starring with Noth on an episode of Law & Order. She alleges that Noth was drunk on set and had a beer hidden off-camera that he would drink from between takes. She also says he got close to her during one take, sniffed her and said, “You smell good.” (She also shares that Noth was “consistently sexually inappropriate” with a friend of hers while working as a promoter at a club Noth owned in New York.) “Chris Noth capitalized on the fantasy that women believed Mr. Big represented,” she wrote, adding, “F–k Mr. Big.”

UPDATE: On Dec. 23, our sister site Variety reports, singer-songwriter Lisa Gentile accused Noth of forcibly pulling her, kissing her and touching her breasts in 2002. TVLine has reached out to Noth’s representatives for comment.

Best of TVLine

Get more from TVLine.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter

Advertisement