Chris Noth’s Comments About Rape Resurface as Actor Faces Sexual Assault Allegations

Three women have come forward with accusations against the 67-year-old, who has categorically dismissed them. A fourth woman, actress-director Zoe Lister-Jones has accused the Golden Globes nominee of predatory behaviour, saying he had been “constantly sexually inappropriate” with one woman.

Chris Noth’s comments about rape have resurfaced as the Sex and the City star faces sexual assault allegations. In 2016, the actor gave an interview to Esquire, where he discussed his role in the movie White Girl. He portrayed a lawyer who helps drug addict Lea to get her boyfriend out of jail. Spoiler alert: Noth rapes the girl from behind when she falls unconscious after getting high on cocaine.

The actor said he first rejected the part, thinking it was "too ugly", but then reconsidered saying he realised he was afraid of playing villains after years of playing heroes and nice guys. Noth then went on to say that the “instinct of predator is firmly entrenched in the male psyche”.

"I think [writer-director Elizabeth Wood] tapped into something, that there's always dirty little secrets in a lot of men, who, when given the opportunity, will go to a place they wouldn't even admit to themselves maybe, when it comes to sex. And that's what this guy did: took full advantage of a situation and got what he wanted. Given the opportunity human beings can go to a very ugly place. My main point is I think that no one can really know anyone, and there's a lot of different things that can happen to a person under certain circumstances", the actor said.

Social media users drew attention to the similarities between the scene in the film and the statements made by women who have accused Chris Noth of sexual assault and rape.

TW: sexual assault

One thing I can't get out of my head about the Chris Noth allegations: he plays a rapist in a movie called "White Girl."

And if you watch that harrowing scene and read his accusers' accounts, the similarities are hard to miss.

— Morgan Jerkins (@MorganJerkins) December 17, 2021

The Chris Noth allegations are especially disturbing when recalling a certain scene from the movie White Girl.

— Lady T (@theresa_basile) December 17, 2021

Chris Noth was interviewed about his role in the movie White Girl and it’s quite cringey to read it again with these allegations. . . . since his character ::spoiler:: rapes a college girl https://t.co/04GpfBnY4G pic.twitter.com/MpbA3oIo0r

— Ner (@NersWords) December 17, 2021

Last week, The Hollywood Reporter published an interview with two women who described in detail how the actor had allegedly raped them. One woman, going under the pseudonym Zoe, said she became acquainted with Noth in 2004 while she was working "in an entry-level position at a high-profile firm where Noth and other celebrities regularly had business".

The actor, who was at the height of his popularity thanks to his role as Mr Big in Sex and the City, began flirting with her, she claims. Zoe alleges she was raped by Noth from behind while facing a mirror after she went to his apartment in Los Angeles to return a book.

During the sexual assault, the actor didn’t use protection, the woman alleges.

"It was very painful and I yelled out, 'Stop!'. And he didn’t. I said, 'Can you at least get a condom?' and he laughed at me. I had stitches. Two police officers came. I wouldn’t say who it was", Zoe said, adding that she was afraid nobody would believe her or that she could lose her job if she publicly accused the actor.

The description of an incident given by the second woman, Lily, matches Zoe’s. She claims the incident occurred in 2015, when she was 25 and Noth was 60. The Sex and the City star invited her to "sample his collection of whiskeys". Lily alleges that the actor raped her from behind in front of a mirror.

After the article was published, actress and director Zoe Lister-Jones, who worked with Chris Noth on Law & Order, posted a statement on her social media accusing the actor of predatory behaviour.

"In my twenties I worked at a club in NY that Chris Noth owned and on the few occasions he would show up, he was consistently sexually inappropriate with a fellow female promoter. That same year I was a guest star on 'Law and Order' and it was his first episode returning as a detective after 'SATC'. He was drunk on set. During my interrogation scene he had a 22 oz. of beer under the table that he would drink in between takes. In one take he got close to me, sniffed my neck, and whispered, 'You smell good'. I didn’t say anything. My friend at the club never said anything. It’s so rare that we do", she wrote.

On 18 December, a third woman accused the actor of sexual assault, which reportedly occurred in 2010 when she was 18.

Chris Noth has categorically denied the accusations, saying the sexual encounters described in The Hollywood Reporter’s story were consensual. The actor’s publicist said Noth has no idea who the third woman is.

"The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false. 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", he said.

The accusations follow the recent premiere of Sex and the City's reboot "And Just Like That", which came out on HBO earlier this month. The first two accusers said the publicity around the series, where Noth reprises his role as Mr Big, brought back "painful memories" of encounters with the actor.

The LAPD said no formal charges had been brought against the 67-year-old, but that law enforcement was looking into the report the woman under pseudonym Zoe filed.