Peloton has removed a viral ad starring Chris Noth, the actor who plays Mr. Big in HBO Max’s Sex and the City and its sequel series And Just Like That, after Noth was accused of sexual assault. Peloton says it’s stopped promoting the videos until it “learns more” about the accusations.
In a story published by The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday, two women alleged that Noth assaulted them in 2004 and 2015 respectively. One of the women said that “seeing that [Noth] was reprising his role in Sex and the City set off something in me.” She added: “For so many years, I buried it,” but decided it was time “to try to go public with who he is.” Noth has denied the allegations against him and claims the sexual encounters were consensual.
A spokesperson for Peloton told The Hollywood Reporter that it was unaware of the allegations when it made the commercial. “Every single sexual assault accusation must be taken seriously,” said a spokesperson for the company. “We were unaware of these allegations when we featured Chris Noth in our response to HBO’s reboot. As we seek to learn more, we have stopped promoting this video and archived related social posts.”
The ad essentially resurrected Noth’s character after he was killed off in an episode of And Just Like That after a 45-minute Peloton workout. It was made in collaboration with actor Ryan Reynolds and his marketing company, Maximum Effort. Reynolds supplied a voiceover for the commercial, which extolled the benefits of Peloton’s exercise bikes for healthy living.
The ad has now been deleted from social media accounts belonging to Peloton, Maximum Effort, and Reynolds.
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