Grammy Award-winning singer and actress Queen Latifah, 51, is opening up about the firing of her costar Chris Noth from the CBS hit show The Equalizer.
The Sex and the City actor, 67, was let go from the show in December following several accusations of sexual assault from numerous women dating as far back as the 1990s.
The show premiered last February and is a remake of the original series that ran on CBS from 1985 to 1989. Queen Latifah stars as former CIA operative Robyn McCall, a single mom to a teenage daughter who has a mysterious background and works to help people who have nowhere else to turn.
Chris had played William Bishop on the series, a former CIA director and an old friend of Robyn’s.
On December 20th, Universal Television and CBS issued an official statement last month that Chris had been let go from the series “effective immediately.” He was also dropped from the season finale of And Just Like That, a future Peloton ad, and by his talent agency, A3 Artists Agency.
The actor is denying all accusations of the sexual assaults, as he relayed in a statement to CNN in December.
“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,” Chris said in his statement.
Now, more than one month later, Queen Latifah is finally opening up on how she feels about Chris’ departure, as well as the future of the show.
Queen Latifah calls the situation ‘surreal’
Queen Latifah opened up to People about the accusations earlier this week.
“It’s still surreal. It is such a dicey, delicate situation that requires a great deal of respect,” Queen Latifah confessed to Julie Moran.
“That’s a personal thing that he’s going to have to deal with,” she added.
The actress also told People that she and Chris shared an “amazing chemistry.”
“Chris’ character is obviously a big part of the show and it was amazing chemistry, amazing chemistry,” Queen Latifah acknowledged. “And my feeling is justice has to prevail regardless. I just want the right things to be done, you know?”
What’s next for The Equalizer?
The producer and rapper told People that the show is still trying to figure out how to proceed going forward.
“We are figuring out what we want to do creatively on the show and how we’re going to deal with that character,” Queen Latifah said.
The show also stars Adam Goldberg, Tory Kittles, and Liza Lapira.
The Equalizer airs Sunday nights at 8/7c on CBS.