Peloton pulls viral ad after actor Chris Noth accused of sexual assault
Two women came forward separately to accuse the Sex and the City star of assault, and another, actor Zoe Lister-Jones, is sharing stories of "sexually inappropriate" behavior.
- Over a decade of writing and editing experience
Chris and Sarah Jessica Parker in HBO's Sex and the City reboot.
Less than a week after Peloton rolled out an ad starring Chris Noth's Sex and the City character, Mr. Big, Noth is in the headlines again. Peloton has removed the viral ad from its social media platforms following Thursday's report from The Hollywood Reporter that two women have accused Noth of sexual assault.
"Every single sexual assault accusation must be taken seriously," a Peloton spokesperson said in a statement emailed to CNET. "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."
Representatives for HBO declined to comment.
The women, whom THR allowed to use pseudonyms, came forward months apart -- according to the report, the first in August and the second in October. The alleged assaults took place more than a decade apart, in 2004 and 2015.
Noth denies the claims, calling them "categorically false." In a statement to THR, he added, "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 representative for Noth did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The two women, who reportedly do not know each other, separately claimed that Noth's reappearance in HBO Max's new Sex and the City reboot, And Just Like That… triggered them to come forward.
On Thursday, actor Zoe Lister-Jones also came forward with allegations against Noth, accusing him of "sexually inappropriate behavior" at a club he owned and where she worked and on the set of Law & Order, where she guest-starred alongside the lead actor.
"During my interrogation scene he had a 22 oz. of beer under the table that he would drink in between takes," she alleged in a Instagram post. "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.
"My accounts are small in comparison to the accounts of assault that have so bravely been shared today," Lister-Jones continued. "But navigating predation at any level is a burden all women have to bear. And for the most part, there is no accountability, no consequence."
A representative for Noth declined to comment on Lister-Jones' allegations.
The Peloton ad arose in response to a twist in episode 1, which aired last Thursday, that saw Mr. Big dying of a heart attack after a vigorous ride on a Peloton exercise bike. Following the episode, Peloton went into damage control mode, and the ad from Ryan Reynolds' production company Maximum Effort came together in just two days.
The ad, which features a Reynolds voiceover, stars Noth as Mr. Big alongside Jess King, the same real-life Peloton instructor featured in the pivotal episode. "Shall we take another ride? Life's too short not to," Noth says. Then Reynolds pops in with a reminder that regular cycling stimulates and improves your heart, lungs and circulation.