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Chris Noth was recently accused of assaulting two unidentified women in the past. The allegations came to light following the release of the much-awaited SATC reboot And Just Like That.
In light of the controversy, electronic equipment company Peloton has removed its latest viral advertisement featuring the actor. The company also issued an official statement regarding the situation while speaking to The Hollywood Reporter:
“Every single s*xual 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.”
Chris Noth and Peloton have been making news since the premiere of And Just Like That aired on December 9. In a shocking twist, the former character, Mr. Big, was killed off following a fatal heart attack after riding a Peloton exercise bike.
The questionable product placement led to Peloton’s stock drop by almost 11% earlier this month. In response, the company created a hilarious commercial suggesting an alternative ending to Mr. Big’s story while highlighting the benefits of cycling.
The spoof starred Chris Noth and Jess King in lead roles and featured a voiceover from Ryan Reynolds. Upon its release, the ad went viral immediately and even helped Peloton’s stock rise by 4% on Thursday.
However, the company decided to remove the ad following Chris Noth’s assault controversy. Ryan Reynolds also deleted his social media posts related to the commercial in light of the allegations.
What did Chris Noth do?
On December 16, The Hollywood Reporter mentioned that two unnamed women separately approached the publication alleging that Chris Noth assaulted them in 2004 and 2015, respectively.
The first incident reportedly occurred in Los Angeles, while the second occurred in New York. The outlet confirmed that the women did not know each other and shared their experiences with the publication months apart.
THR used pseudonyms Lily and Zoe in their story to maintain the privacy of the victims. Lily (31) decided to share her story in August as news of the SATC reboot allegedly brought back terrifying memories from the attack.
She claimed to have met Chris Noth while working as a server in the VIP section of the former New York nightclub No.8 in 2015. She mentioned that she was initially “star-struck” to meet the actor as a SATC fan.
The assault allegedly took place after Noth asked the woman out for dinner and later took her to his Greenwich Village apartment.
Meanwhile, Zoe (40) reached out to the publication in October and shared that she met Noth while working an entry-level job for a high-profile firm in Hollywood in 2004. The actor was reportedly a regular visitor of the Los Angeles firm and took the victim’s number from the directory.
She claimed that Law & Order star left “flirty” texts and voicemails on her number and later invited her to visit the pool at a building of his West Hollywood apartment. She alleged that the assault happened on the day she visited him.
Chris Noth addressed the allegations while speaking to THR and refuted the claims of the victims by mentioning the “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.”
The actor’s attorney Andrew Brettler told People that the SATC alum and his representatives had not been contacted by any law enforcement agency so far:
“No one from any law enforcement agency has contacted Chris or any of his representatives. Obviously, if anyone does reach out, we will cooperate fully.”
The Los Angeles Police Department initially mentioned that Chris Noth was under investigation for the allegations. LAPD Sgt. Bruce Borihanh told Deadline they were investigating the nature of the complaint:
“We are still looking into the nature of the report and trying to narrow down where, when and if where the report was filed.”
However, the department later confirmed that authorities are not actively looking into the assault allegations. Officer Drake Madison said that there was “no investigation at this point”.
