Chris Noth denied the sexual misconduct claims made against him in 2021 before he admitted to cheating on his wife, Tara Wilson.
“I strayed on my wife, and it’s devastating to her and not a very pretty picture,” he told USA Today in an interview published Monday. “What it isn’t is a crime.”
The “Sex and the City” alum, who was accused of assault by two women in December 2021, insisted that the sexual encounters outside of his marriage were consensual.
He furthered that he decided to commit adultery because he simply wanted to have “fun.”
“You give yourself the same excuses that many men do; it’s just a little side dance, and it’s fun,” Noth, 68, explained.
“You’re not hurting anybody. No one’s going to know about this, you know, and sex is just enjoyable. And suddenly, a lot of people want to have sex with you. It’s like, ‘Well, I’m not going to get this chance again.'”
The initial accusations against Noth aired in a groundbreaking 2021 Hollywood Reporter story, leading to three additional women coming forward.
Despite the claims dating back to the early 2000s, no charges were filed against the “Law & Order” alum.
“There’s nothing I can say to change anyone’s mind when you have that kind of a tidal wave,” Noth said. “It sounds defensive. I’m not. There’s no criminal court. There’s no criminal trial.
“There’s nothing for me to get on the stand about and get my story out, get witnesses. And there’s even more absurd add-ons that are completely ridiculous, that have absolutely no basis in fact.”
Noth had remained tight-lipped about the allegations, insisting that his silence was to avoid tabloids distorting his words.
“I don’t want my kids seeing that,” he explained.
Noth shares Orion, 15, and Keats, 3, with Wilson, 43. The couple, who tied the knot in 2012 after 10 years of dating, are still married despite reports they were hanging on by a thread when the women came forward.
At the time, Wilson was seen crying in her car without her wedding band as an insider told us they were trying to work things out.
“Tara is upset and things are hanging by a thread,” an inside told us. “She just wants to protect the kids. That is her No. 1 priority.
“The problem is that even if Chris did not do what these woman said he did, he still had some kind of sexual encounter with them and he cheated on Tara. That is hard to come to terms with,” the source added.
As for Noth’s career, it was left in shambles amid further claims that the actor was known to hang around bars and grope women, per a Rolling Stone story from January 2022 and the Hollywood Reporter.
He was edited out of the HBO “Sex and the City” spinoff, “And Just Like That,” and dropped by his management company.
The actor also lost his job on the CBS show “The Equalizer” and a Peloton commercial featuring Noth was cut.
