SMILING for the camera alongside one of my TV idols, I felt a sudden hand on my chest and time stood still.
I had just been groped by Sex And The City’s ‘Mr Big’ Chris Noth – whose behaviour up to that point had been a world away from his suave TV persona – but it was what happened next that truly turned my blood cold.
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Last week, many fans were surprised when Sarah Jessica Parker wrote a lengthy farewell message to the franchise following the cancellation of spin-off series And Just Like That, but failed to mention her former on-screen soulmate.
However, I was more bemused by subsequent newspaper coverage suggesting the actor, 70 – who has denied accusations of sexual abuse by five women – could be the “forgotten victim” of the #MeToo movement.
I know what kind of man Chris Noth is – after one shocking encounter which left me feeling dazed and violated.
I met Noth during the peak of Sex And The City, when the episodes were on Channel 4 on Friday nights, and women got together with friends to watch over a Cosmopolitan or two every week.
Like most other females in their twenties, I was a huge fan, so extremely excited to be sent to interview Mr Big for the celebrity magazine I was working for at the time.
It was a press junket in a posh London hotel, one journalist after another getting a precious 20 minutes with a star to maximise their publicity time.
I was expecting Noth to be like his character, impossibly suave and charismatic. Instead the man I was greeted by acted like a teenage doofus, with a very immature sense of humour. He was less Big, more Beavis and Butthead.
I was disappointed of course, but this was far from the first celebrity I’d encountered who was nothing like their public persona, so fine. We wrapped up the interview just as the next journalist was being led in and by coincidence it was a good friend of mine.
This was the days before everyone had a smartphone in their pocket, but she’d brought along a polaroid camera, and offered to take a quick picture of me and Noth before I left. He hadn’t been what I’d hoped, but he was still Mr Big, so of course I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity.
He stood behind me for the photo, and as my friend prepared to take it, he giggled like a 14-year-old and cupped his hands in front of my chest, in a way that would make it look like he was holding my boobs in the picture.
Shamed Chris Noth makes first Hollywood appearance after being axed from Sex And The City over sex assault claims
I felt uncomfortable, but I was very young, and he wasn’t actually touching me so I didn’t say anything. There was a problem with the camera, it didn’t work, so my mate told us we’d have to try again.
This time, perhaps emboldened by my silence, just before she pressed the button, he grabbed my chest for real. My blood went cold.
Everything started to happen in slow motion, but the following moments were even more troubling.
Wall of silence
I waited for someone, anyone in the crowded room – one of his handlers, someone in charge, a proper grown-up – to say something. No one did.
My friend and I exchanged astonished glances. I think we were both in shock.
I often wonder which one of us felt worse; her, watching me stumble from the room in a daze, holding a photo of myself being felt up against my will, an expression on my face I’d never seen before captured on film. Or me, having to leave her with him.
I threw the photo in the bin. If you’d have asked me before that day if there was any chance I would EVER chuck a picture of myself with anyone from Sex And the City I would have laughed in your face. No way!
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Five women have since accused Chris Noth of sexual assault, which he “categorically denies”.
Responding to the allegations further in 2023, Noth insisted that any sexual encounters he was involved in were consensual.
However, his character was written out of And Just Like That in the wake of the claims and his final appearance was later edited out. He was also sacked from his role in The Equalizer.
At the time, Sex and The City’s Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis released a joint statement saying: “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 to do and we commend them for it.”
No consequences
Clearly what happened to me is barely worth mentioning in comparison to what these women say they went through.
But I saw – felt – what Chris Noth was capable of in a crowded room full of people, while ostensibly working, and how unconcerned about any consequences he appeared.
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Hardly shocking that SJP doesn’t want to speak or write about him. I presume she wants to distance herself from him as much as possible.
Let’s hope that just like the spin-off, he is cancelled, for good.
Chris Noth told The Sun in a statement: “What is described by the reporter allegedly took place during a press junket 25 years ago and I honestly have no recollection of it. This was also previously raised by The Daily Mirror in 2022, and I didn’t remember it then either.
“From this journalist’s description, it sounds like a replicate of a rather popular photo from an entertainment magazine that I took years ago with Sarah Jessica Parker.
“I’m not sure if that was the intent but either way I am very sorry if I made the journalist uncomfortable. That certainly was not my intent.”
