Mr. Big was one of Carrie Bradshaw’s major love interests on Sex and the City, but the actor who portrays him might not be as smitten with her.

Chris Noth, who played Big on all six seasons of the show, got a little candid about Big’s complex relationship with Bradshaw in an interview with news.com.au this week.

“One of the things I tell people is that he never tried to pretend he was anything other than what he was,” the 59-year-old actor said of his character. “It was [Carrie] who tried to pretend he was something he wasn’t. He was always honest about himself – he never cheated on her.”

“The relationship just didn’t work,” he continued, referring to their season 2 breakup. “And he went on to get married while she went on to… how many boyfriends did she have? She was such a whore! [laughs] There’s a misconception that Carrie was a victim of him, and that’s not the case — she was a strong, smart woman.”

Noth’s off-hand comments have caused some pretty immediate controversy since the interview was published on Wednesday. A Yahoo column titled “No, Carrie Bradshaw Was Not ‘Such a Whore'” written by Kevin O’Keeffe called Noth’s comments “a textbook case of ‘slut-shaming,’ holding women who have casual sex to a different standard than men who do,” and then proceeded to throw another 800 words or so at the topic.

Even Jezebel didn’t seem that mad about it.

Sex and the City creator Michael Patrick King and writer Jenny Bicks pretty much played off Noth’s comments as a joke.

“Well, I’m sure Chris was kidding when he joked that, note the laugh afterwards,” King told BuzzFeed. “We always had a wonderful time working on SATC and I know he has the greatest affection for [Sarah Jessica Parker] as an actress and a friend. To take his comment any other way would be a ‘Big’ mistake.”

They also reminded everyone that Big wasn’t exactly a saint himself.

“Oh my God, that’s such a ‘Big’ thing to say!” Bicks said. “However, he seems to forgotten that [Mr. Big] may not have cheated ON her, but he certainly cheated WITH her when he was married and Carrie was single. So, I could say that’s kinda slutty of Big. And also, not cool. Not cool at all. [Big]’s lucky [Carrie] married him in the end.”

What do you think of Chris Noth calling Carrie Bradshaw a whore? No “Big” deal?

[Image: Rainforest Action Network]