Chris Noth Fired From The Equalizer After Sexual Assault Allegations
Chris Noth has been fired from The Equalizer in the wake of sexual assault allegations. TVLine reports that the actor, who has played former CIA handler William Bishop on the Queen Latifah-starring CBS series for two seasons, has been removed from the cast. A joint statement from Universal Television and CBS on Monday said, "Chris Noth will no longer film additional episodes of The Equalizer, effective immediately." The actor will appear in one upcoming episode of the series that had previously been filmed and he will also appear in rebroadcasts of episodes that have previously aired.
Last week, The Hollywood Reporter reported the allegations against Noth with two women coming forward to claim that the former Sex and the City star had raped them, one in 2004 and one in 2015. A third woman later came forward a few days later with allegations of sexual assault as well. Following these allegations, Peloton pulled an advertisement for their stationary bikes featuring Noth. The ad, which was made in conjunction with Ryan Reynolds and played on the death of Noth's Sex and the City character Mr. Big in the recently-debuted HBO Max sequel series, And Just Like That, featured Noth asking actress Jess King — who plays Big's Peloton instructor on And Just Like That — if she wanted to go for another ride on the bikes saying "life is too short" not to do what you love. When pulling the ad, Peloton stated "every single sexual assault accusation must be taken seriously."
"Every single sexual assault accusation must be taken seriously," a spokesperson for Peloton said in a statement. "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."
As for Noth, the actor emphatically denies the claims of sexual assault.
"The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false," Noth said in a statement. "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. These 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."