Any fan of Sex And The City will know one of the best parts of the cult-favourite franchise was the relationship between our favorite Public Relations executive and unmarried woman, Samantha Jones, and the Fendi-swinging, Manolo Blahnik loving Carrie Bradshaw.
Of course, the sad reality is that the real life relationship of Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall is far different to their on screen counterparts.
While tension between the pair had, unbeknownst to fans, been bubbling under the surface for decades, their feud reached a boiling point during the release of And Just Like That.
Cattrall’s absence was definitely noted, and despite a new band of characters (read: Che Diaz, LTW and realtor to the stars Seema Patel) attempting to fill the void left by Samantha’s lacking presence, the reality of what was going on between the cast off-screen tarnished the experience for some fans.
However, the history of what exactly went down between SJP and Cattrall is one that’s shrouded in allegations, with many of the show’s loyalists unaware of the extent of the beef between the two.
Whether you’ve just started SATC after watching AJLT (hello, Gen Z) or just needing a refresher, keep scrolling below for the entire history of Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker’s feud.
October 2017: Kim Cattrall Claims She And SJP Were “Never Friends”
It was the comment that started it all. Cattrall revealed in a 2017 interview with Piers Morgan that she and SJP had a “toxic relationship” and that she “could have been nicer” about her decision to not return to the franchise for a third film.
“We’ve never been friends. We’ve been colleagues and in some ways it’s a very healthy place to be because then you have a clear line between your professional life and relationship and your personal,” said Cattrall.
The 65-year-old actress also said that her decision to not return to the franchise wasn’t due to “diva demands” and rather an “empowered decision” in her life to “end one chapter and start another”.
February 2018: SJP Explains She Was “Heartbroken” After Hearing Kim Cattrall’s Allegation
SJP told her friend Andy Cohen on his show Watch What Happens Live that she was “heartbroken” after hearing Cattrall describe their relationship as “work colleagues”.
“I mean that whole week, you and I spoke about it because I was just…I don’t know I found it really upsetting because that’s, you know, that’s not the way I recall our experience,” Parker said.
“So…it’s sad but I’m kind of…I don’t know, I always think that what ties us together is this singular experience is the thing. It was a professional experience but it became personal because it was years and years of our lives. So I’m hoping that that sort of eclipses anything that’s been recently spoken,” the actor and shoe designer added.
February 2018: Kim Cattrall Calls SJP “Cruel” In A Social Media Post
In February 2018, Cattrall took to social media to share how she really felt about Sarah Jessica Parker giving her condolences following the death of her brother.
“I don’t need your love or support at this tragic time”, wrote Cattrall.
The full caption read:
“My Mom asked me today ‘When will that @sarahjessicaparker, that hypocrite, leave you alone?’ Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were then and now. Let me make this VERY clear. (If I haven’t already) You are not my family. You are not my friend. So I’m writing to tell you one last time to stop exploiting our tragedy in order to restore your ‘nice girl’ persona.”
February 2018: SJP Denied That There Was No Fight Between Herself And Kim Cattrall, Calling The Incident “Completely Fabricated”
In a 2018 interview with People Magazine, Parker claimed that she never fought with Cattrall following her discussion with Piers Morgan in 2017.
“I never responded to the conversation Kim had with Piers Morgan, where she said things that were really hurtful about me. We had this experience and it was amazing, and nothing will ever be like it,” Parker said.
“There was no fight; it was completely fabricated, because I actually never responded. And I won’t, because she needed to say what she needed to say, and that is her privilege,” she added.
January 2021: SJP Admitted She Missed Kim Cattrall In An Instagram Post
SJP took to Instagram to announce the next chapter of Sex And The City, And Just Like That.
One fan commented on the post “Happy to see you back but will miss Kim/Samantha”, too which SJP responded “We will too. We loved her so. X”.
SJP never clarified whether she was referring to Samantha or Kim in her comment.
February 2022: Sarah Jessica Parker Revealed Kim Cattrall Was Never Asked To Star In And Just Like That
Speaking to Variety, SJP said that Cattrall was never asked to reprise her role in And Just Like That “because she’s said what she had said”, obviously referring to the claims previously made by Cattrall.
“After we didn’t do the movie and the studio couldn’t meet what she wanted to do, we have to hear her and listen to her and what was important to her. It didn’t fit into what was important or needed for us,” explained the star.
Parker also revealed that she wouldn’t be ok with Cattrall returning to the franchise as Samantha. “I don’t think I would, because I think there’s just too much public history of feelings on her part that she’s shared,” she said.
May 2022: Kim Cattrall Revealed She Never Watched And Just Like That
In an explosive interview with Variety, Cattrall revealed that she has never watched And Just Like That and explained the exact reason for never returning to the franchise.
“I was never asked to be part of the reboot. I made my feelings clear after the possible third movie, so I found out about it like everyone else did—on social media,” Cattrall said. Although she never watched the series, she came to the conclusion that “the greatest compliment I could have as an actor is to be missed.” Missed she certainly was.
Cattrall also explained that the new show was basically the third Sex And The City movie, adding “that’s how creative is it”. According to Cattrall, half of her reason for leaving the franchise was due to a lack of growth for Samantha as a character.
Cattrall remarked that her plotline in the third film was that the character would receive nonconsensual explicit images of Brady, Miranda’s underage son.
Cattrall described that it feels “odd” for the show to be continuing her character and that it’s a “definite no” to ever returning. “It’s powerful to say no.”
May 2022: SJP Called The Allegations Cattrall Has Made About Her “Very Painful”
Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, SJP cleared the air about the allegations Cattrall has made about her, the real reason Cattrall didn’t return to the franchise, and how she actually feels about the situation.
“It’s very hard to talk about the situation with Kim because I’ve been so careful about not ever wanting to say anything that is unpleasant,” she said.
SJP explained that Cattrall had a list of demands that she wanted Warner Bros to meet, and because the two parties couldn’t come to a resolution about those demands, the movie was never made.
“They didn’t feel comfortable meeting where she wanted to meet, and so we didn’t do the movie because we didn’t want to do it without Kim. The studio wasn’t going to do it, so it fell apart. It wasn’t that she said ‘no’ to the movie; it’s that the studio said ‘no’ to the movie, which, you know, happens,” explained Parker.
Parker also reiterated why Cattrall wasn’t asked back to play Samantha in Sex And The City.
“We did not ask her to be part of this because she made it clear that that wasn’t something she wanted to pursue, and it no longer felt comfortable for us, and so it didn’t occur to us,” said the star.
“You’ve got to listen to somebody, and if they’re publicly talking about something and it doesn’t suggest it’s some place they want to be, or a person they want to play, or an environment in which they want to be, you get to an age where you’re like, ‘Well, we hear that’.”
Parker also touched on the allegations that Cattrall had made which claimed that Parker wasn’t nice to her on set.
“I’ve spent a lot of years working really hard to always be decent to everybody on the set, to take care of people, to be responsible to and for people, both my employers and the people that I feel I’m responsible for as a producer of the show. And there just isn’t anyone else who’s ever talked about me this way, so it’s very painful,” the star added.
Parker remarked that there is no feud between her and Cattrall, rather just “one person talking”.
November 2022: Cattrall alludes to being “tolerated” on the SATC set
Appearing at the Glamour Women Of The Year Awards, Cattrall was awarded the Screen Icon accolade at the ceremony, and used her acceptance speech as an opportunity to hint at previous jobs she’d found difficult.
“This is what happens when you go where you’re celebrated and not where you’re tolerated,” Kim told the audience.
This speech, however, has been met with mixed reception from fans. Whole some praised her bravery, pledging to always love and celebrate the actress, some took issue with her continued public criticism of the show and the people who worked on it.
“Happy for you, but enough with the shade <3" one user commented, "Honestly, move on" wrote another.
May 2023: Reports Emerge Of Kim Cattrall Returning To And Just Like That…
Honestly, none of us could have seen this coming. In May 2023, reports emerged that Kim Cattrall would be reprising her role as Samantha Jones in season two of And Just Like That...
According to sources, Cattrall filmed just one scene, and didn’t interact or speak with any of the stars, including SJP. In the scene, Samantha (who has moved to London) has a phone conversation with Carrie Bradshaw. It’s not much, but we’ll definitely take it.
June 2023: Kristin Davis Addresses The Feud
Not long after learning that Cattrall would be returning to the show, we heard from Cattrall’s co-star Kristin Davis, who addressed the publicised drama in an interview.
“You have to respect people’s wishes. I’m not gonna waste energy on it. I can’t change anybody,” Davis told The Telegraph.
“I do understand fans’ feelings — that they’re upset … I wish I could fix it, but I can’t, it’s not in my power,” she added.
June 2023: Cynthia Nixon Speaks Out
Cynthia Nixon (aka Miranda Hobbes) was the next SATC alum to speak out on the drama.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, the actress touched on Kim Catrall’s absence from the AJLT franchise, saying:
“This is not something that we speak about, really, but I will try and address it really briefly. Yes, it did feel very different. It felt very different also because we have these new amazing characters, and we’re older and our fictional children are now largely grown. Many things felt different. But the main thing that felt so great was that everybody who was there really wanted to be there. That’s just the bottom line. We all love each other, we love our show, we wanted to do more of it. And we all wanted to be there. So that makes an enormous difference, that you’re not walking around on eggshells with someone who’s unhappy for reasons that are hard to even understand what they are.”
However when pushed on the current state of her real-life relationship with Cattrall, Nixon declined to answer.
“That is all I’m gonna say, I’m afraid. And that’s much more than I’ve ever said to anybody,” she replied.
Where To Watch ‘And Just Like That’ Season Two
And Just Like That… season two will hit screens on June 22, 2023. Australian fans will be able to catch every episode on BINGE.
Catch up on season one of And Just Like That… with a 14-day free trial to BINGE, or sign up for as little as $10 per month.
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