Peloton pulls Mr Big advert amid Chris Noth sexual assault allegations
Chris Noth in a Peloton advert. (Peloton)
Peloton and Ryan Reynolds have pulled all traces of a recent advert with Sex and the City star Chris Noth.
On Thursday (16 December), The Hollywood Reporter published an article in which two women accused Noth, 67, of sexual assault in separate alleged incidents in 2004 and 2015. Noth has denied all allegations.
The women came forward separately after Noth made headlines following the premiere of the Sex and the City revival, And Just Like That…, saying that the media circus around the show stirred up painful memories.
Part of that circus revolved around Noth’s character, Big, dying during the season premiere after a Peloton workout. After the episode aired, Peloton had on Sunday (12 December) dropped a tongue-in-cheek ad featuring Noth, narrated and produced by Ryan Reynolds
According to Newsweek, both Peloton and Reynolds, who produced the ad through his Maximum Effort production company and marketing agency, have quietly removed the ad from their social media accounts.
In a statement, Peloton said: “Every single sexual assault accusation must be taken seriously. We were unaware of these allegations when we featured Chris Noth in our response to HBO’s reboot.”
The ad was made in less than 36 hours after And Just Like That… aired Big’s death. Peloton was unaware of the twist, and after the episode aired, its stocks plunged by 11 per cent overnight.
Chris Noth and Sarah Jessica Parker are seen on set of And Just Like That… (RCF/MEGA/GC Images)
What has Chris Noth been accused of?
One of Noth’s accusers alleged to The Hollywood Reporter that Noth raped her when she was 22 while in his Los Angeles, California, apartment.
Using the pseudonym Zoe, the now 40-year-old said she accepted an invitation to visit the actor’s home. Once inside, she alleges, Noth pulled her towards his bed and “raped her from behind”. She said it was a “painful” experience that left her bloodied and requiring stitches.
The second woman, known as Lily, claimed that Noth sexually assaulted her in his New York City apartment in 2015.
She was at his home when he abruptly tugged his trousers down and “thrust his penis into her mouth” before “having sex” with her.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, Noth 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.”
Los Angeles police said Thursday evening that Noth is not being investigated “at this point“.
PinkNews contacted Maximum Effort for comment.
