Queen Latifah breaks silence on allegations against The Equalizer co-star Chris Noth
Queen Latifah has responded publicly to the allegations against her former The Equalizer co-star Chris Noth.
Following the premiere of Sex and the City revival And Just Like That in December, Noth was accused of sexual assault by several women. He has denied all the allegations.
In CBS crime drama The Equalizer, Noth had played ex-CIA director William Bishop alongside Latifah’s vigilante. However, he was fired from the series in the wake of the allegations.
Latifah broke her silence on the matter in a recent interview with Julie Moran on People (the TV Show!).
“It’s still surreal. It is such a dicey, delicate situation that requires a great deal of respect,” she said. “That’s a personal thing that he’s going to have to deal with.”
Latifah continued: “Chris’s character’s obviously a big part of the show and it was amazing chemistry, amazing chemistry. And my feeling is justice has to prevail regardless. I just want the right things to be done, you know?”
As for how The Equalizer will deal with the disappearance of Noth’s character, Latifah said: “We are figuring out what we want to do creatively on the show and how we’re going to deal with that character.”
In December, Noth was accused of rape by four different women. A woman who wished to remain anonymous but used the pseudonym Ava alleged that the actor had sexually assaulted her while she was working at a New York restaurant in 2010.
The actor denied the allegation, with his representative saying: “The story is a complete fabrication, and the alleged accounts detailed throughout read like a piece of bad fiction.”
Two more women who accused Noth of sexual assault claimed they were raped by the actor in 2004 and 2015 respectively.
Noth told The Independent in response to the claims: “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.”
Noth was dropped by his talent agent in the wake of the allegations.
Singer-songwriter Lisa Gentile was the fourth person to accuse Noth of sexual assault in an alleged incident at her apartment in 2002.
After the allegations came to light, Heather Kristin, a former stand-in for Davis, revisited her viral February 2021 essay for The Independent titled, “I was Charlotte’s stand-in on Sex and the City. Some of the behaviour I saw still shocks me.”
In the new piece, she claimed that Noth had showcased “toxic behaviour” on set and had pointed to her fellow stand-in and said: “I want that one tied up, gagged, and brought to my trailer.”
A representative for Noth responded at the time, saying: “Now that everyone is piling onto Chris Noth, the timing is unquestionably convenient to drag him into her ‘recollection’ of events. Chris denies these allegations and there’s never been a single complaint or report about him acting inappropriately on the set of Sex and the City.”
If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support. For more information, visit their website here.
