Chris Noth speaks out about sexual assault allegations: 'It's a salacious story, but it's just not a true one'
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Chris Noth continues to deny sexual assault allegations made against him, insisting his only offense was infidelity.
"I strayed on my wife, and it's devastating to her and not a very pretty picture," Noth told USA Today in his first interview addressing the claims. "What it isn't is a crime."
In Dec. 2021, two women accused the former Sex and the City star of sexual assault, citing separate incidents that occurred in Los Angeles in 2004 and New York in 2015. At the time, Noth released a statement calling the accusations "categorically false" and stating, "I did not assault these women."
A third woman then came forward accusing Noth of sexually assault in 2010 when she was 18 and working at a New York City restaurant. The actor denied her allegation, calling it "bad fiction." Later, singer Lisa Gentile accused Noth of forcibly kissing and touching her despite her protests in a press conference with attorney Gloria Allred. He did not address her allegations at the time.
Now, Noth is speaking on the record about the allegations for the first time with the media. Noth told USA Today he still stands by his original statement and elaborated on his infidelity, insisting he'd only had consensual sexual encounters. "You give yourself the same excuses that many men do; it's just a little side dance, and it's fun," he said. "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.'"
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Chris Noth
Noth said he is eager to return to his career as an actor, which essentially ground to a halt in the wake of the allegations. His costars on And Just Like That, Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kristin Davis previously issued a statement in support of the women who accused Noth, and he was cut from the series' season 1 finale.
Later, he disputed claims in the New York Post that his fellow AJLT cast members had "iced him out," writing on his Instagram that the article was "absolute nonsense."
Following the allegations, Noth was also fired from CBS drama The Equalizer and dropped from a Peloton ad tied to his character's death on And Just Like That.
"I'm not going to lay down and just say it's over," he told USA Today of his career. "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. 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."
Noth emphasized that studios and creators are now fearful of working with him because of potential blowback. "People are afraid of all this," he noted. "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."
None of the women have filed criminal charges against Noth, and he accused them of a potential cash grab via a civil suit (though no lawsuits have been filed). "That's a money train for a lot of people," he said.
He also spoke out against the spiral of being caught up in such allegations and the impossible nature of escaping it. "There's nothing I can say to change anyone's mind when you have that kind of a tidal wave," Noth added. "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. 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."
EW has reached out to Noth's representatives for additional comment.
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