Chris Noth breaks his silence for the first time since being accused of sexual assault by multiple women

More than a year after he was accused of sexual assault by multiple women, actor Chris Noth has broken his silence and stated that his extramarital relationships were all consensual.

The former Sex and the City star also explained why he will not allow those same "salacious" headlines to impede his career. "I strayed on my wife, and it's devastating to her and not a very pretty picture," he told USA Today referring to his wife, actress Tara Wilson. "What it isn't is a crime."

"I'm not going to lay down and just say it's over," he added. "It's a salacious story, but it's just not a true one. And I can't just say, 'Well, OK, that's it for me' because of that. I'm an actor. I have other things that I want to do creatively. And I have children to support."

"I can't just rest on my laurels. So yeah, I have enough to let a year drift, but I don't know how to gauge or judge getting back into the club, the business, because corporations are frightened," he said of going off the radar following the allegations.

The first allegations against the actor came in 2021, following Noth's reprisal of his Sex and the City character Mr Big in the HBO reboot And Just Like That... Noth's character was killed off in the first episode itself- not as a reaction to the allegations but due to the plot of the story which was pre-decided.

According to reports, one woman alleged that at 22 years old, she was assaulted by Noth in California. She claimed to have required stitches from the attack. Another woman said when she was 25, Noth assaulted her in New York. The women stated the events happened in 2004 and 2015, respectively.

"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," Noth said in a statement back when the charges were first made public.

Weeks after the initial allegations, three more women came forward with similar claims, prompting And Just Like That… stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis to release a statement in support of those women.

The allegations led to Noth losing his role in CBS show The Equalizer. He also lost out on a $12 million acquisition deal of his tequila brand and was rumoured to have been scrapped from an additional episode of And Just Like That… .

Although no criminal charges have been filed against Noth, the actor is aware he may have to face civil suits in the near future. "That's a money train for a lot of people," he added.

Noth maintained that his biggest mistake was cheating on his wife and added, "You give yourself the same excuses that many men do; it's just a little side dance, and it's fun. You're not hurting anybody. No one's going to know about this, you know, and sex is just enjoyable. And suddenly, a lot of people want to have sex with you. It's like, 'Well, I'm not going to get this chance again.'"

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