Chris Noth Speaks Out on Sexual Assault Allegations Nearly 2 Years Later
Chris Noth is speaking out in his first interview since multiple women accused him of sexual assault in 2021. During a conversation with USA Today, the 68-year-old actor maintains his innocence and that the only thing he did wrong was cheat on his wife, Tara Wilson.
"I strayed on my wife, and it's devastating to her and not a very pretty picture," he tells the outlet. "What it isn't is a crime."
Noth and Wilson have been married since 2012 and share two sons -- Orion, 15, and Keats, 3.
The Equalizer actor continued to maintain that his interactions with the multiple women were consensual.
"You give yourself the same excuses that many men do; it's just a little side dance, and it's fun," Noth adds. "You're not hurting anybody. No one's going to know about this, you know, and sex is just enjoyable. And suddenly, a lot of people want to have sex with you. It's like, 'Well, I'm not going to get this chance again.'"
In December 2021, two women, who went by the pseudonyms Zoe and Lily, recounted two separate instances of sexual assault allegedly involving the Sex and the City star in 2004 and 2015 in a report by The Hollywood Reporter.
Zoe claimed that she met Noth in Los Angeles when she was 22 and he was 49 and was assaulted by the actor at his West Hollywood apartment. Meanwhile, Lily told the publication that she was a server at a club in New York City when she first met Noth in 2015 at age 25. Lily claimed she went on a date with Noth, then 60, and then went back to his house for a whiskey tasting, where she claimed that he sexually assaulted her.
Following the accusations, Noth denied the claims in a statement to ET.
"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," Noth's rep said in a statement at the time. "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 same week, a third woman, a 30-year-old female tech executive, who went by the pseudonym Ava, alleged she was sexually assaulted by Noth when she was 18 and he was 55, in a report by The Daily Beast.
In the days following, singer Lisa Gentile claimed in a press conference that she was assaulted by Noth in 2022. Noth has vehemently denied all allegations.
As a result of the allegations, the veteran actor was removed from the final episode of the first season of And Just Like That(though his character, John "Mr. Big" Preston, died in the first episode), and the show's leading women -- Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis -- released a statement speaking out in support of the accusers. Noth was also pulled from the CBS series The Equalizerand lost a $12 million deal for his tequila brand. No criminal charges were filed.
In the interview with USA Today, Noth spoke further about the fallout he faced in the years following the allegations.
"There's nothing I can say to change anyone's mind when you have that kind of a tidal wave. It sounds defensive. I'm not. There's no criminal court. There's no criminal trial. There's nothing for me to get on the stand about and get my story out, get witnesses," he says. "And there's even more absurd add-ons that are completely ridiculous, that have absolutely no basis in fact. And I don't like talking about it because as soon as I do, you'll get the Daily Mail or someone grabbing a part of it and doing it, and I don't want my kids seeing that."
Noth explained that after being away from the spotlight for two years, he is looking to get back to work in order to take care of his family. However, he claims that people may avoid working with him out of fear.
"I'm not going to lay down and just say it's over. It's a salacious story, but it's just not a true one. And I can't just say 'Well, OK, that's it for me' because of that. I'm an actor. I have other things that I want to do creatively. And I have children to support. I can't just rest on my laurels," he says. "So yeah, I have enough to let a year drift, but I don't know how to gauge or judge getting back into the club, the business, because corporations are frightened."
"People are afraid of all this," he adds. "Fear is the overriding operative word when it comes to whether they believe it or not. ... I have to just continue on. It's rough, because people are scared, and their fear leads them. And I have to just persevere because I still have a creative life."
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