Chris Noth: what are the sexual assault allegations against Sex and the City actor - and who is Lisa Gentile?

Sex and The City star Chris Noth has had a number of women come forward with accusations on sexual assault.

The 67-year-old, best known for playing Mr Big in the show and its 2021 reboot And Just Like That, has claimed that the allegations are “categorically false”.

This is everything you need to know.

What are the allegations against him?

A number of sexual assault allegations have been raised against Noth since he reprised his role as Mr Big in the new Sex and The City reboot And Just Like That.

Initially two women came forward with claims of sexual assault, speaking of their experiences anonymously via the Hollywood Reporter, which was released on Thursday 16 December.

Zoe and Lily, which are not the women’s real names, both approached the publication separately. The two also do not know each other.

After graduating in 2004, Zoe moved to LA to work at a high-profile firm where Noth regularly had business. She said that she had gone to Noth’s West Hollywood apartment to return a book she had borrowed.

It was then that Zoe alleged that Noth raped her, saying: “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.”

Lily met Noth in 2015 when she was working as a server in the VIP section of a New York nightclub. She said: “He was hitting on me, for sure. I was flattered.

“I knew he was married, which is shameful for me to admit.”

Lily said that Noth got her number and then asked her out. The two drank wine and Noth then invited Lily back to his apartment.

After allegedly trying to kiss her, Lily said no and went to leave. She said: “And then the next thing I knew, he pulled down his pants and he was standing in front of me.”

Lily said that she brought up the fact that he was married with children, to which she claims he said that “marriage is a sham” and “monogamy is not real”.

She said: “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.” When it was over, she said: “I went to the bathroom and put on my skirt. I was feeling awful. Totally violated.”

A third woman, under the pseudonym of Ava, told the Daily Beast that she too had been sexually assaulted by the Sex and The City star.

After finishing her shift at a restaurant she worked at, Ava said that after picking up her things from the office, Noth had followed her.

She said: “He acted as if we had intentionally snuck off together clandestinely.”

Ava said that Noth groped her and that she felt “as though I was the only person in the universe who could hear me saying no”.

She said: “He wasn’t hearing “no” but he heard me when I said “not here” and convinced him that I would meet him somewhere else.”

Ava said that she managed to convince Noth that they should relocate to his home. She claimed that Noth said he would send a car to the restaurant to collect her after he got back to his apartment, at which point she managed to make her way back home.

What has Lisa Gentile claimed?

Lisa Gentile is a musician, best known for songs like I Drank the Cooking Wine, On the Water, Sweet on You, Lifeline and Guys Like You. Gentile has also come forward with allegations against Noth from 2002.

Gentile said in a statement that she had first met Noth when frequenting the DaMarino Restaurant in New York City in 1998. She claimed that in early 2002, Noth had given her a ride home and asked to come up to her apartment where he kissed her and “forcibly” pulled her against him.

She said: “I quickly became uncomfortable. Then he became more aggressive and put both hands on my breasts and began squeezing them very hard over my shirt.

“I grabbed his hands with my hands and tried to stop him. I kept pushing his hands down while he was pushing mine up. I was trying to get him to stop.”

Gentile claimed she had pushed Noth off her and shouted “no, I don’t want this,” at which point he became “extremely angry” and called me a “tease” and a “bitch”.

“He stormed out of my apartment,” she said.

She claimed that Noth had called her the next day and warned that he would “ruin her career” and have her “blacklisted” in the business.

“I was afraid to come forward because of Mr Noth’s power and his threats to ruin my career,” she said.

“I am speaking out now in support of the other four women who have courageously come forward before me.”

What did  Zoe Lister-Jones say?

Zoe Lister-Jones is an actress who starred alongside Noth in an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.

On Instagram, Lister-Jones posted a statement in which she described Noth as “a sexual predator”.

She wrote: “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 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 [Sex and The City].

“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.”

Lister-Smith goes on to say that her “experiences are small in comparison to the accounts of assault that have so bravely been shared” and ends the statement by writing “f**k Mr. Big”.

Who is Beverly Johnson?

Beverly Johnson is an American model, actress and singer. She rose to fame in 1974 after becoming the first Black model to appear on the cover of American Vogue. The following year, she became the first Black woman to appear on the cover of the French edition of Elle.

In 2012, she was the star of the reality TV series Beverly’s Full House, and has appeared in a number of other on screen roles in projects like Crossroads, Law & Order, 3rd Rock from the Sun and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Johnson also released her album Don’t Lose the Feeling in 1979.

Following the allegations, a newspaper report from 1995 has resurfaced in which the headline claimed that Johnson had been “battered by Law & Order star”. Johnson and Noth had been together for five years from 1990 to 1995.

The article had originally appeared in the National Enquirer, and was reposted on Instagram by Diet Prada.

The article said: “Top model Beverly Johnson is living in terror that she’ll become the next Nicole Simpson.

“The beauty claims in court papers that her jealous ex-boyfriend - former Law & Order star Christopher Noth - has beaten her, threatened to disfigure her and made death threats against her in up to 25 calls a day.”

In the court documents obtained by Page Six, Johnson filed for a temporary restraining order against Noth on 1 August 1995, which requested Noth to stay 500 years away from her, her daughter and her dog.

In the documents, Johnson alleged: “Chris Noth punched me in the chest and ribs, injuring my ribs, making it difficult to breathe, punching and bruising my face and body in which I had to have medical attention.

“On July 27, 1995, he made repeated threats on my life making up to 25 calls per day threatening to kill me [and] destroy my face. Threatening to kill the dog.”

The temporary restraining order was approved by a judge, and on 3 October 1995 it was modified into a mutual restraining order.

In the order, the judge wrote: “Neither party shall make any derogatory statements about the other of any nature or description to another person or entity, not encourage or participate in any part making any such derogatory comments about the other to any third part of entity.”

What have his Sex and The City co-stars said?

Initially, Noth’s And Just Like That co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, who play Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte respectively, did not respond to the accusations.

They have since issued a joint statement on behalf of all three of them, which has been posted on their social media.

It read: “We are deeply saddened to hear the allegations against Chris Noth.

“We support the women who have come forward and shared their painful experiences.

“We know it must be a very difficult thing for them to do and we commend them for it.”

What has Chris Noth said about the allegations?

Responding to the initial allegations, Noth branded them as “categorically false”.

In a statement, he said: “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.”

According to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), there is currently no investigation being made into the incidents claimed.

Officer Drake Madison of the LAPD told the PA news agency: “There is no record of a report being filed at this time.

“Without a report there is no investigation.”

Following the sexual assault allegations, Noth has been dropped from the CBS drama The Equalizer, and Pelton has also pulled the advert that he starred in.

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