(Trigger warning: Mention of sexual assault)
Actor Chris Noth has been accused of sexual assault by two women in separate incidents, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The incidents reportedly occurred in Los Angeles in 2004 and New York 2015. The publication used the pseudonyms Zoe and Lily to protect the women’s privacy. The actor has denied the allegations.
Zoe told The Hollywood Reporter, “Seeing that he was reprising his role in Sex and the City set off something in me. For so many years, I buried it.” The publication also noted that both women approached the outlet separately and don’t know each other. Noth reprises his role as Mr. Big in HBO Max’s Sex and the City sequel And Just Like That.
‘He Somehow Got My Number’: Zoe (Pseudonym)
Zoe informed that she used to work at a firm which handled high-profile clients including Chris Noth. Zoe recalled, “He (Noth) would walk by my desk and flirt with me. He somehow got my number from the directory and was leaving messages on my work phone. My boss was like, ‘Mr. Big’s leaving messages on your voicemail.’”
The boss Zoe referred to said that she found it ‘odd’ that Noth was leaving messages for Zoe, some of which she heard, but didn’t find it ‘alarming’. She said, “This was peak Sex and the City. He was like a god to us.” Zoe had just graduated from college and Noth was 49 at the time.
Zoe alleged to the publication that Noth left a book with her and asked her to return it to his apartment where he then sexually assaulted her. A friend who met Zoe later recalled, “She wouldn’t talk. She wouldn’t make eye contact. When we got in the car, I started pressing her: ‘You have to tell me what happened. Something’s wrong.’ I don’t remember the words she said, but I said, ‘I’m taking you to the hospital.’”
‘I Felt Violated’: Lily (Pseudonym)
Lily met Noth at a New York nightclub she worked at. Noth, then 60, took her number and asked her out on a date. Lily recalled that’s she was ‘truly star struck,’ adding, “He was hitting on me, for sure. I was flattered. I knew he was married, which is shameful of me to admit.”
They, then, went over to his apartment. Lily alleged, “He tried to make out with me. I cautiously entertained it. He’s older and looked older. He kept trying and trying and trying, and I should have said no more firmly and left.” She further alleged that he then assaulted her and she felt ‘totally violated.’
‘The Allegations Against Me Are Categorically False’: Chris Noth
Chris Noth has refuted the allegations against him and said that they’re ‘categorically false’. In a statement to Rolling Stone, Noth said, “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,” he stated.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)