Chris Noth's The Equalizer Character Killed Off After His Firing Due to Sexual Assault Allegations

Barbara Nitke/CBS/Getty

Fans of The Equalizer finally learned how Chris Noth's character was written off the show.

During Sunday night's episode of the Queen Latifah-led drama, it was revealed that Noth's character William Bishop had died. Bishop's death aired months after allegations of sexual assault were made against the actor late last year.

In the episode, which was titled "Pulse," Noth's Bishop died in a plane crash while he was working with the CIA and investigating another plane crash.

Latifah, 52, and Noth had been filming The Equalizer together since 2020. The first season aired in February 2021, and season 2 followed in October. Noth played a former CIA director on the series, while Latifah is his counterpart, a former CIA operative named Robyn McCall.

The last episode of the series that Noth had starred in aired on Jan. 2 and was filmed prior to the star being removed from the series in December 2021, when allegations against him were made public.

All of the six episodes that aired since the Jan. 2 installment did not feature Noth's character.

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Barbara Nitke/CBS/Getty

RELATED: Chris Noth 'Will No Longer Film' Episodes of The Equalizer After Multiple Sexual Assault Allegations

The allegations against Noth first surfaced in a Dec. 16 article in The Hollywood Reporter, in which two women accused him of sexually assaulting them.

According to one woman, who spoke under the pseudonym Zoe, Noth allegedly raped her in a Los Angeles apartment in 2004. She claimed they met at a high-profile firm in L.A. with ties to celebrities like Noth.

Another woman, using the pseudonym Lily, claimed Noth invited her to his New York City apartment in 2015 after they had dinner and drinks. Lily, who was 25 at the time, said she met The Good Wife alum while working as a server at a local nightclub.

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Noth denied the allegations in the THR report in a previous statement. "The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false," he said in a statement at the time. "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. 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."

A third woman, who used the name Ava, later brought similar sexual assault claims against Noth in a Daily Beast article. Singer Lisa Gentile then came forward with her own allegations of sexual assault in a Dec. 23 press conference led by attorney Gloria Allred.

After Ava's account, Noth's publicist denied the allegations in a statement to PEOPLE, but at the time of Gentile's claims, a rep for Noth did not have a comment.

RELATED VIDEO: Queen Latifah on Chris Noth's Firing from The Equalizer amid Claims of Sexual Assault Against Him

After the first two allegations were made public, CBS released a statement on Dec. 20 confirming that Noth had been removed from The Equalizer. "Chris Noth will no longer film additional episodes of The Equalizer, effective immediately," the statement said at the time.

About a month after Noth was fired from The Equalizer, Latifah opened up to PEOPLE (the TV Show!) special contributor Julie Moran about the ordeal and what it meant for the series.

"It's still surreal. It is such a dicey, delicate situation that requires a great deal of respect," she said, adding, "That's a personal thing that he's going to have to deal with."

As for how his character is being written off, the actress and singer said at the time, "We are figuring out what we want to do creatively on the show and how we're going to deal with that character."