Chris Noth found a new home on television in early 2021 thanks to his role on CBS’ The Equalizer, but the actor will soon no longer be featured in new episodes of the hit show due to sexual assault allegations. The network has cut ties with Noth due to the allegations that recently surfaced after a high profile (albeit brief) appearance on HBO Max’s And Just Like That spinoff of Sex and the City. That said, fans of The Equalizer haven’t seen the last of his character.
One more episode of The Equalizer will feature Chris Noth’s William Bishop despite CBS cutting ties with the actor due to accusations from two women of sexual assault, according to Variety, as that episode had already completed filming prior to the decision about his future with the series. He will reportedly also appear in reruns of the episodes that featured him before and including his upcoming final episode. CBS and production company Universal Television released a brief statement (via Deadline) to confirm the situation:
Chris Noth will no longer film additional episodes of The Equalizer, effective immediately.
The Equalizer is currently on hiatus after its fall finale back in late November. The sexual assault allegations came to light just days before the decision by CBS, after a commercial featuring Chris Noth went viral due to how his character was killed off in And Just Like That. Two women came forward to allege that Noth had sexually assaulted them, with one incident said to occur in 2004 in Los Angeles and the other said to take place in New York in 2015. He wrapped up his role as Big on Sex and the City in 2004 and began his run on NBC's Law & Order: Criminal Intent in 2005, and was working on CBS' The Good Wife in 2015.
After the allegations emerged, the actor released a statement (via THR, after the initial claims of sexual assault became public), saying:
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.
The two women who accused Noth of sexual assault reportedly came forward after he received mainstream attention both for being killed off And Just Like That as Big in a shocking twist, and then appearing in a Peleton commercial produced by Ryan Reynolds to play on Big's death. That Peleton ad has been removed from the company's social media and YouTube pages, and a company spokesperson stated that they were "unaware of these allegations when we featured Chris Noth in our response to HBO’s reboot."
It's not clear at the time of writing when exactly Chris Noth's final episode of The Equalizer will air or how the show will write his character out. That said, the show is scheduled to return with its midseason premiere on Sunday, January 2 at 8 p.m. ET. Given that Noth only filmed one episode before CBS made the decision to cut him, the odds seem in favor of his final episode being the Season 2 midseason premiere.
