While HBO has yet to release a statement following accusations made against And Just Like That… star Chris Noth, in which two women claim the actor sexually assaulted them, Peloton has! The exercise equipment company, whose stationary bike Noth’s character of John “Mr. Big” Preston was riding when he suffered a fatal heart attack, has removed a viral ad starring the actor from its social media accounts.
In a statement to Us Weekly, a rep Peloton told People, “Every single sexual 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.”
On December 16, two women, Zoe, now 40, and Lily, now 31, who are both using pseudonyms, came forward with accusations against Noth in October and August, respectively, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Both women claimed that the actor, best known for his role as Mr. Big in Sex and the City, had sexually assaulted them nearly a decade apart.
The two women, who do not know each other and informed the outlet separately, stated the promotions of the hit HBO show’s revival brought back painful memories of the alleged incidents.
Zoe informed the outlet that she was freshly out of college and just 25 when the alleged incident happened in Los Angeles in 2004. According to Zoe, Noth, now 67, raped her while she was at his apartment returning a book.
“It was very painful and I yelled out, ‘Stop!’” she told THR. “And he didn’t. I said, ‘Can you at least get a condom?’ and he laughed at me.”
Following graduation, she worked an entry-level job at a high-profile firm that Noth often had business with — and where the actor would flirt with her and where he “somehow” got her phone number from the directory to leave her voicemails on her work phone.
Following the incident, Zoe claims she went to Cedars-Sinai, a hospital in Los Angeles, where she told staff she had been assaulted.
“I had stitches. Two police officers came. I wouldn’t say who it was,” Zoe told the outlet, adding that she was afraid of losing her job.
The second accusation happened nearly over a decade following the first, in 2015 in New York. Lily alleged that Noth had sex with her “pretty forcibly,” adding, “I was kind of crying as it happened.”
Noth has since denied the allegations. “The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false,” Noth said in a statement to In Touch. “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.”
Noth has been a mainstay on television and in films since his debut in the early ’80s, appearing in more minor roles until his breakout role as Detective Mike Logan in the pilot for Law & Order in 1988. He appeared on the show from 1990 until 1995. However, he is possibly best known as Mr. Big from Sex and the City.
Noth married Canadian actress and playwright Tara Wilson in 2012, after the couple, who have a 27-year age difference, dated for over a decade. Together, they share two sons.
If you or anyone you know has been sexually abused, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673). A trained staff member will provide confidential, judgment-free support as well as local resources to assist in healing, recovering and more.