Peloton yanks ad resurrecting Chris Noth, citing sexual assault allegations
Peloton is no longer promoting an ad with "Sex and the City" star Chris Noth after an article was published Thursday accusing the actor of sexual assault.
The exercise bike maker put together a viral ad on the benefits of cycling to push back on an unfavorable depiction of Peloton in the pilot episode of "And Just Like That," the long-anticipated "Sex and the City" reboot. In the premiere episode, which aired last week, Noth's character, Mr. Big, dies of a heart attack shortly after taking a 45-minute Peloton class.
Peloton created a response ad within 48 hours in which a resurrected Noth lounges by a fireplace. In the commercial, the voice of actor Ryan Reynolds touts the benefits of cycling. "And just like that ... he's alive," Peloton tweeted December 12.
On Thursday, The Hollywood Reporter published a story accusing Noth of sexual assault against two unnamed women in two separate incidents, 11 years apart. As of Thursday afternoon, Peloton's tweet with the Noth ad was deleted. Ryan Reynolds, whose production company produced the spot, also removed his tweet promoting the spot.
Noth has denied the allegations, telling THR they were "categorically false" and that the encounters were consensual. "I don't know for certain why they are surfacing now, but I do know this: I did not assault these women," Noth told THR in a statement.
In a statement to CNBC, Peloton said it was not aware of the allegations against Noth at the time of the ad.
"Every single sexual assault accusation must be taken seriously," Peloton told CNBC. "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."
Peloton did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CBS MoneyWatch.
Before the ad came down, it was viewed more than three million times. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the spot cost about $80,000 to make, and resulted in Peloton gaining $900 million in stock market value.
Peloton's stock closed at $39.81 Thursday after gaining 3.4% over the course of the day.