“Sex and the City” actor Chris Noth has been accused of sexual assault by two women in two separate incidents, one from 2004 in Los Angeles and another from 2015 in New York — which the actor has denied as “categorically false.”
The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday detailed accounts from two women, who are now 40 and 31.. The 40-year-old, whom THR identified with the pseudonym Zoe, said Noth raped her from behind when she visited him at his apartment in Los Angeles in 2004, while the second woman, identified as Lily, described making out with the actor at his apartment in New York before he thrust his penis into her mouth and “pretty forcibly” had sex with her from behind.
In a statement, Noth denied both accusations. “The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false,” he said. “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.”
A rep for Noth had no additional comment beyond the statement. TheWrap was also unable to corroborate the two accusers’ accounts. THR’s reporting does indicate if either woman plans to pursue criminal or civil charges against Noth.
Zoe recalled being 22 and working at a high-profile Los Angeles firm where Noth did business and receiving “kind of flirty” voice messages from the “Sex and the City” star when the show was at its height. Though he lived in New York at the time, Zoe says that he had an apartment in West Hollywood and that she and a friend who also lived in the building decided to meet Noth at the building’s pool. Zoe’s friend also confirmed to THR remembering going to the pool with Zoe and Noth and sitting with them at the jacuzzi.
She said that Noth left a book behind at the pool and went to his apartment to take a call but asked if she could take a look, bring it back to his apartment and share her thoughts. When she returned the book, she said Noth kissed her as she went through the door.
“Thank you, I’m going back to my friend,” she recalled saying, adding that he then pulled her toward the bed and pulled off her shorts and bikini bottom. “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.”
Zoe then recalled having blood on her shirt, with her friend telling THR that she behaved much differently after returning from the encounter. They also recall reporting the incident to Cedars-Sinai that she had been assaulted but did not identify Noth. Cedars-Sinai told THR they do not keep records dating back to 2004.
Lily described meeting Noth in 2015 when she was 25 and he was 60 and married with one child at the time. She said she was starstruck and agreed to a date with the actor and went back to his apartment in Greenwich Village, where Lily said that after Noth tried to make out with her he thrust his penis into her mouth.
“He tried to make out with me. I cautiously entertained it. 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 THR. “He said marriage is a sham. Monogamy is not real. He was having sex with me from the back in a chair. We were in front of a mirror. I was kind of crying as it happened.”
She continued: “I went to the bathroom and put on my skirt. I was feeling awful. Totally violated. All of my dreams with this star I loved for years were gone.”
Lily further told a friend the next day that Noth had “pretty forcibly” had sex with her and that her friend recommended they call the police, but she does not recall making the call. THR also reviewed text messages between Noth and Lily from March and April 2015 in which he hoped to have another date, but the two never met again.
“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,” read the text message that Lily said came from Noth. Lily replied: “Hmm…I certainly enjoyed your company. Great conversation. Not to go into specifics over text message, but I did feel slightly used…Perhaps this is better as a phone conversation but I can’t talk at the moment.”