Sex And The City star Chris Noth recently reprised his Mr. Big character in HBO Max’s And Just Like That…. He later starred in an exercise-bike commercial to address some season premiere story-controversy. Months ago, the impending return of Noth to the small screens prompted two women to come forward with accusations of sexual assault (which they claim happened in 2004 and 2015, when they were both 25 years old) against the actor.
The two women (known as “Lily” and “Zoe” to protect their privacy against “fear[s] of repercussions”) detailed their allegations in August and October during interviews with The Hollywood Reporter, which reviewed text conversations and verified details as possible. That includes speaking to an official at the UCLA Rape Crisis Center and interviewing friends of the accusers, who corroborated details and even mentioned additional phone conversations that the accusers say they don’t recall, given that they happened in times of distress and may have been “buried.” That’s a word that both women use to discuss how they coped with their trauma.
THR also contacted Noth for comment on the allegations. In a statement, he insisted that the these “encounters were consensual”:
“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.”
Both women’s accounts allege that they visited Noth’s apartment after he showed interest in learning more about them. In Zoe’s case, he lent her a book and asked if she’d bring it to the apartment. From Zoe’s account, that’s when the alleged sexual assault happened:
When she went to his apartment to return the book, Zoe says, he kissed her as she stepped through the door. She tentatively kissed back but then said, “Thank you, I’m going back to my friend.” The kiss itself didn’t alarm her; she thought a kiss from Mr. Big would be a fun story to tell her friends. But she says he then pulled her toward him, moved her toward the bed, pulled off her shorts and bikini bottom, and began to rape her from behind. She was facing a mirror. “It was very painful and I yelled out, ‘Stop!'” she says. “And he didn’t. I said, ‘Can you at least get a condom?’ and he laughed at me.”
In Lily’s case, Noth was married at the time of the alleged 2015 sexual assault:
“He said marriage is a sham. Monogamy is not real.” The next thing she knew, “He was having sex with me from the back in a chair. We were in front of a mirror. I was kind of crying as it happened.” When it was over, she says, “I went to the bathroom and put on my skirt. I was feeling awful. Totally violated. All of my dreams with this star I loved for years were gone.” She called an Uber. Revisiting this brings her to tears, yet she says she finds it freeing to tell the story.
Lily’s friend Alex says she called her from the car. “She was pretty hysterical,” she says. Lily told her that he had “pretty forcibly” had sex with her, and Alex said they should call the police. But Lily wouldn’t hear of it. Lily says she doesn’t remember making the call.
More details on the accusations against Noth can be read in the full piece at THR. The piece also includes information about the crisis counseling that both women sought after the alleged incidents, along with the aforementioned corroborations from friends.
(Via Hollywood Reporter)