Chris Noth denies sexual assault allegations

Actor Chris Noth is denying claims of past sexual assault by two women who came forward in an article published Thursday.

The Hollywood Reporter said the two women, who do not know each other and are identified only as Zoe and Lily, contacted the magazine independently in August and October, respectively. Zoe, now 40, alleged Noth raped her in his Los Angeles-area apartment in 2004. Lily, now 31, alleged a more complicated yet nonetheless nonconsensual encounter at his Greenwich Village apartment in 2015.

Noth, 67, told The Hollywood Reporter in a statement: "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."

Noth — who recently reprised his role as Mr. Big on HBO Max's "Sex and the City" sequel series "And Just Like That…" — added, "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."

Zoe said she was a 22-year-old college graduate working an entry-level job at a firm that counted celebrities among its clients. Noth, then unmarried, flirted with her at her desk and on her work voicemail, she said. Her unnamed then-boss corroborated hearing those voicemail messages.

Noth, Zoe said, invited her to a pool at his West Hollywood, California, apartment building; she and a visiting friend went. Zoe and Noth spoke about a book he had with him that he said he was considering for a project. He left to take a call in his apartment and asked her to look through the book and bring it up to him with her thoughts on it. Flattered, she did so. There, she said, he kissed her when she walked in, and after she said she was leaving, he pulled her toward him, removed her bikini and raped her, she alleged.

Lily said she was a 25-year-old server at a New York nightclub when Noth, then married and with a child, asked her out. "I knew he was married, which is shameful of me to admit," she told the magazine. Meeting at a restaurant and expecting dinner, she found the kitchen closed and so instead had wine at the bar with Noth. They later proceeded to his apartment to drink whiskey and talk some more. "He tried to make out with me. I cautiously entertained it. … I should have said no more firmly and left," Lily said. He then assaulted her, she alleged.

Meanwhile, the stationary-bicycle maker Peloton has removed from social media its viral ad starring Noth, which was produced in response to his character's recent death after exercising on the brand's bike on "And Just Like That…"