A fourth woman has come forward with allegations of sexual assault against Sex and the City actor Chris Noth.
Lisa Gentile, a New York singer, and her lawyer Gloria Allred held a video press conference Thursday to reveal Gentile’s 2002 incident involving Noth, as well as lobby for New York State to pass the Adult Survivors Act (ASA) next year.
Allred opened her comments by noting that, due to the statute of limitations, Gentile is unable to pursue both criminal and civil charges against the actor. “If and when it becomes law, those who were victimized in New York will have the right and opportunity to finally hold those who victimized them accountable in a court of law,” Allred said.
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Gentile’s account — like that of the third anonymous Noth accuser — began at the New York restaurant Di Marino often frequented by the actor. Gentile says she and Noth first met in 1998 but would see each other at the restaurant over the next few years.
“Eventually, Chris and I started conversing and we became acquaintances. We would talk mostly about music and show business and the neighborhood,” Gentile said. “Then, on a Saturday night in early 2002 … around midnight, I was getting ready to leave. Chris offered me a ride home and I said okay. When we arrived at my apartment, Chris asked if he could come up. I told him I had nothing to offer him to drink and he said that’s okay, he just wanted to see where I lived. He came upstairs, we entered, and we went into the kitchen.”
After Gentile claims she gave Noth some boxed wine, she says “started kissing me almost right away. Then he leaned against the kitchen countertop and forcibly pulled me against him. He was slobbering all over me, I quickly became uncomfortable. Then he became more aggressive and put both hands on my breasts and began squeezing them very hard over my shirt. He quickly went under my shirt and began squeezing them even harder over my bra, with his fingers grabbing exposed skin not covered by my bra. Then he pushed my bra up with both of his hands; I grabbed his hands with my hands and tried to stop it.”
Gentile continued, “I was trying to get him to stop. Then he forced my hands to pull up his shirt, exposing his belly, and then even harder pushed my hands toward his penis. I finally managed to push him away and get out of his grasp and yell, ‘No, I don’t want this!’ He became extremely angry and started screaming and called me a ‘tease’ and a ‘bitch.’ He stormed out of my apartment.”
Gentile said that she is coming forward now in support of the three anonymous women who previously accused Noth of sexual assault — the actor has denied all allegations, insisting that the encounters were consensual — as well as to ensure the passage of the ASA, a bill similar to New York’s Child Victims Act, which gave victims of child abuse a one-year window (extended due to the pandemic) to pursue legal action for allegations that were outside the statute of limitations.
“He warned me if I ever told a soul what happened the night before that he would ruin my career, that I would never sing again, and that he would blacklist me in the business,” Gentile said. “I was afraid to come forward because of Mr. Noth’s power and his threats to ruin my career.” Gentile and Allred declined to say whether she had any interaction with Noth after that encounter.
A rep for Noth did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Noth’s Sex and the City co-stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis recently issued a statement in support of the women who came forward with allegations against the actor.
“Lisa and I appreciate their words of support,” Allred said of Parker, Nixon and Davis. “And now we urge Sarah, Cynthia and Kristin to take action, to speak out in support of the Adult Survivors Act. Their endorsement of this act would be important.”
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