Peloton drops Chris Noth ad following sexual assault allegations
A week after releasing an ad starring Chris Noth, Peloton has essentially removed the clip from circulation in the wake of sexual assault allegations against the actor.
The approximately 30-second clip premiered just three days after the shocking first episode of the Sex and the City sequel series, And Just Like That..., in which a Peloton bike and Noth's character, Mr. Big, both have starring roles. It went viral, and news organizations including Yahoo covered actor Ryan Reynolds's comments about how he and his digital media marketing company, Maximum Effort, turned it around so quickly.
Noth was in the headlines Thursday for a much different reason, as two women laid out detailed accusations against him in a piece published by The Hollywood Reporter. Zoe and Lily, as the women were called in order to maintain their anonymity, reportedly approached the publication separately and months apart. They alleged that the actor had had sex with them without their consent in incidents in 2004 and 2015, respectively. Both said promotion of Noth's series had, as the publication phrased it, "stirred painful memories."
Noth denied their stories.
"The accusations against me made by individuals I met years, even decades, ago are categorically false," he told Yahoo Entertainment in a statement. "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."
When reached for comment, Maximum Effort referred Yahoo Entertainment to a statement from its client, Peloton: "Every single sexual assault accusation must be taken seriously. We were unaware of these allegations when we featured Chris in our response to HBO's reboot. As we seek to learn more, we have stopped promoting this video and are archiving related social posts."
The ad is no longer on Reynolds's personal social media pages, either.
