Sex and the City actor Chris Noth has been accused of sexual assault by two women.
The actor, who played Mr Big in the HBO series, has recently appeared in the show’s reboot, And Just Like That, which began earlier this month.
It was seeing him doing interviews around the spin-off series that prompted two women to make individual claims to The Hollywood Reporter regarding Noth’s alleged behaviour.
The alleged incidents are said to have occurred in 2004 and 2015, respectively.
Noth told The Hollywood Reporter in response to the claims: “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.”
The Independent has contacted Noth for additional comment.
The first incident is said to have occurred after the first anonymous woman, then 22 and named Zoe in the article, began receiving text messages from Noth, who is claimed to have sought her number out.
After several “flirty” texts, Noth asked Zoe to read a book he said he was interested in doing a project on. He is said to have asked her to return the book to his apartment and, when she did, it’s alleged he kissed her “as she stepped through the door”.
Chris Noth is accused of assaulting two women in 2004 and 2015, respectively
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Noth is then accused of moving Zoe toward the bed, pulling off her shorts and raping her. “It was very painful and I yelled out, ‘Stop!’” Zoe said. “And he didn’t. I said, ‘Can you at least get a condom?’ and he laughed at me.”
Zoe’s friend alleged to The Hollywood Reporter that there was “a weird change” in her when she returned from Noth’s hotel room. After being treated at Cedars-Sinai, Zoe “wouldn’t say” who had allegedly assaulted her as she feared nobody would believe her. Zoe’s boss, though, did confirm she told her the next day.
“I was 25 at the time,” Zoe said, noting it was more than a decade before the #MeToo movement. “It was a lot. I didn’t know what to do.”
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The second allegation comes from a woman (named Lily in the article) who was 26 at the time of the alleged incident in a New York nightclub in 2015. Noth was 60.
Lily claims that Noth asked her out for dinner to a location known to Sex and the City fans as the place Carrie celebrates her 30th birthday.
As the restaurant closed, Lily claims Noth invited her back to his apartment to see his whiskey collection, which she agreed to. However, while there, Lily alleges that Noth began kissing her, which she initially entertained. But then, Lily claims Noth pulled his trousers down and forced himself on her.
“He was having sex with me from the back in a chair,” Lily told the outlet. “We were in front of a mirror. I was kind of crying as it happened.”
The allegations surfaced after Chris Noth’s return to the spotlight in ‘And Just Like That’
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Lily’s friend Alex described a “hysterical” phone call she had with Lily after she had allegedly left Noth’s apartment. Alex says that during the call, Lily accused Noth of “pretty forcibly” having sex with her.
THR says they reviewed alleged texts Lily received from Noth soon afterwards, one of which said: “By the way I have to ask did you enjoy our night last week. I thought it was a lot of fun but I wasn’t quite sure how you felt.”
Zoe said seeing Noth in the spotlight again while promoting And Just Like That is what prompted her “to try to go public” with “who he is”.
If you’ve been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support: www.rapecrisis.org.uk.
