Queen Latifah addresses Chris Noth's 'The Equalizer' exit: 'It's still surreal'

Chris Noth was fired from The Equalizer amid allegations of past sexual assault in December, and now, the CBS crime drama's lead Queen Latifah is addressing the move.

"It's still surreal," the 51-year-old multi-hyphenate icon told People. "It is such a dicey, delicate situation that requires a great deal of respect. That's a personal thing that he's going to have to deal with."

Days before CBS confirmed that Noth, 67, would "no longer film additional episodes of The Equalizer," The Hollywood Reporter published graphic accounts from two women detailing alleged sexual assault by Noth on two separate, unrelated occasions in 2004 and 2015. A third woman came forward through The Daily Beast the following weekend, and a fourth woman followed shortly thereafter. 

Noth denied the allegations brought forth through THR in a written statement to the publication: "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."

With People, Latifah added that those behind The Equalizer are "figuring out what we want to do creatively on the show and how we're going to deal with [Noth's] character."

"Chris's character's obviously a big part of the show and it was amazing chemistry, amazing chemistry," she said. "And my feeling is justice has to prevail regardless. I just want the right things to be done, you know?"

Noth is best known for portraying Mr. Big for the duration of Sex and the City, included the two feature-length films, and reprised the role for HBO Max's revival limited series And Just Like That..., but Mr. Big was killed off in the Dec. 9 premiere episode. He was more recently removed from the yet-to-air finale.

The Equalizer premiered in February 2021.

Noth's final episode aired Jan. 2.