Actor Chris Noth has been accused of sexual assault by two women.
The Hollywood Reporter reported Zoe, now 40, and Lily, now 31, who are both using pseudonyms, came forward with accusations about Noth in October and August, respectively.
Zoe said the alleged incident occurred in Los Angeles in 2004 while she was freshly out of college at 22. She claimed Noth raped her while she was returning a book to his apartment.
“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.”
As for Lily, she recounted a story that allegedly happened in New York in 2015 and claimed Noth had sex with her “pretty forcibly.”
Noth responded to the claims in a statement to In Touch. “The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false,” the actor’s statement read. “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, 67, has been a staple on television since he first appeared on Law & Order but is possibly best known as playing Sarah Jessica Parker‘s longtime love interest on Sex and the City, Mr. Big. Recently, the actor reprised his role when he appeared on the revival of the show, And Just Like That…
After making his debut in the early ’80s, Noth appeared in a number of films and television shows in small parts until he appeared in the pilot for Law & Order as Detective Mike Logan in 1988. Noth appeared on the iconic show as Detective Logan from 1990, when NBC began airing the series, until 1995 when he was fired. According to AP, the Good Wife actor would have been up for a “huge” raise if his contact was renegotiated and, according to producer Dick Wolf, it “would [have been] impossible to grant, given the age of the show.”
Noth has been married to Canadian actress and playwright Tara Wilson since 2012, after the couple, who have a 27-year age difference, dated for over a decade. Together, they share two sons, Orion, 13, and Keats, 22 months.
In 2013, Noth revealed that he had received hate mail due to his relationship with Wilson.
“When I was in a play on Broadway two years ago, I’d occasionally get letters of outrage, usually from somewhere in Alabama or something, saying you know, ‘Don’t come down here with your wife,’” he told the Wall Street Journal at the time. He hoped time would change and things would become better in the world, adding, “We’re all getting together. We’re all mixing it up.”
The notoriously private couple have worked together a number of times. The pair initially met while Wilson, 39, was working as a bartender in the New York lounge and music venue, The Cutting Room, of which Noth is a co-owner. Starting in 2008, they became co-owners of a tea house, Once Upon a Teacup, first in Windsor, Ontario and then opening a second location in London, Ontario. In 2009, they starred together in the indie film Frame of Mind.
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.