‘Sex and the City’ star Chris Noth accused of sexual assault
‘Sex and the City’ star Chris Noth has been accused of sexual assault by two women. The actor has denied the allegations, saying that the claims are ‘categorically false’.
According to a long interview report by The Hollywood Reporter, the actor who is currently enjoying the limelight following the long-awaited revival of ‘Sex and the City,’ is accused of sexual assault by two separate women, who spoke anonymously to the publication in order to protect their privacy. The women, who do not know each other, spoke under the pseudonyms Zoe, now 40, and Lily, now 31.
Both women told The Hollywood Reporter that “the renewed attention for Noth with ‘And Just Like That’ brought up painful memories, prompting them to come forward with their stories.”
Lily reached out to the outlet in August, and Zoe in October.
Zoe, who works in the entertainment industry accused Noth of rape and told the outlet that her assault occurred in 2004 in Los Angeles. On the other hand, Lily, who now works as a journalist, said she was assaulted by the actor in 2015 in New York City.
“After graduating college in 2004, Zoe, who was 22 at the time, moved to Los Angeles and was working an entry-level entertainment job where Noth and other celebrities regularly conducted business. Zoe told the publication that Noth would walk by her desk and flirt with her and leave messages on her work phone,” the report by The Hollywood Reporter states.
Zoe’s former boss at the firm verified this behavior to the outlet and said she thought it was odd that Noth, much older and at the height of his ‘Sex and the City’ fame, took interest in her younger employee, but she did not find it alarming.
The report also states that Noth invited Zoe to the pool at his apartment building in West Hollywood. At the apartment, Noth kissed her as she stepped through the door and she “tentatively kissed back.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Noth “then pulled her towards him, moved her towards the bed and began to rape her.”
Zoe’s close friend also told The Hollywood Reporter that the two went to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to say she had been assaulted, but did not mention Noth’s name out of fear of retaliation from a celebrity.
Meanwhile, Lily, who was 25 at the time of assault, told The Hollywood Reporter that she met ‘The Equalizer’ actor, then 60, when she was a server in the VIP section at the New York nightclub no. 8.
“I was truly star-struck. He was hitting on me, for sure. I was flattered. I knew he was married, which is shameful of me to admit,” Lily told the outlet.
The report further states that Noth got Lily’s number, asked her out and “they went to dinner at Il Cantinori, a restaurant featured on ‘Sex in the City’ as the venue of Carrie Bradshaw’s (Sarah Jessica Parker) 30th birthday party.”
The kitchen was already closed when they arrived. Lily states that they had wine at the bar, while discussing the third ‘Sex and the City’ movie and her career trajectory.
Lily told THR she had “too much to drink, though she was nowhere near blacking out.” As a fan of Noth, she explained to The Hollywood Reporter that she was having an “out-of-body experience” on the date.
After leaving the restaurant, the two went to Noth’s Greenwich Village apartment around the corner and drank whiskey.
“He tried to make out with me. I cautiously entertained it,” Lily told THR. “He’s older and looked older. He kept trying and trying and trying, and I should have said no more firmly and left. And then the next thing I knew, he pulled down his pants and he was standing in front of me,” Lily told the outlet.
One of Lily’s friends told the outlet that she remembers getting a call after the alleged incident, and suggested to call the police, but Lily did not want to. The friend told that she listened to a voicemail from Noth after that night where he allegedly said, “Hey, hope you didn’t take anything wrong last night. We had fun. Just want to make sure you didn’t take it the wrong way.”
The Hollywood Reporter claims of reviewing text messages between Noth and Lily, 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.” Lily’s text response read, “Hmm...I certainly enjoyed your company. Great conversation. Not to go into specifics over text message, but I did feel slightly used.”
As per the report, Noth asked her out another time, but the two never met again.
Later on Friday, former ‘Law and Order’ actor Zoe Lister-Jones also posted a statement on her Instagram handle where she alleged that Noth “is a sexual predator.”
“Last week, my friend asked me how I felt about Mr. Big’s death on ‘And Just Like That,’ and I said, honestly, I felt relieved,” she wrote.
Zoe also recalled that when she worked at a club Noth owned in New York, he was “consistently inappropriate with a fellow female promoter,” concluding her statement, “**** Mr. Big.”
As per the latest development, Noth has denied all the allegations.
“The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false,” Noth said in a prepared statement obtained by Variety.
“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.