Mr Big has even waded into the feud - and he's obviously on Carrie's side... But why did the actresses fall out so massively?
S-x And The City is returning this week - but, as everyone has noticed, without one of its key counterparts: Kim Cattrall, AKA Samantha Jones - the self-proclaimed 'try-s-xual', meaning she'll try anything once - wouldn't make an appearance, with one tweet reading: 'S-x And The City without Samantha is just And The City.'
While there has been no official statement as to why Kim isn't returning for And Just Like That, it can probably be guessed as to why Kim isn't taking part: her very public, messy feud with SJP (aka Carrie Bradshaw), which has been rumbling on for years.
Mr Big - aka Chris Noth - has even waded in on the debacle, and it might not shock you that he sided with his on-screen partner, Carrie. 'I just wish that whole thing had never happened because it was sad and uncomfortable,' he said, speaking to the Guardian this week. Noth added, ‘I just don’t like to see anyone talking down about SJ because she’s a target and people can be nasty. I feel very protective of her and I was not happy about that. That’s all I’ll say about that.’
But what did happen? Why did the actresses fall out so massively? For those who have forgotten, it's certainly a long story.
Following the series end in 2004, there had long been reports that Kim, 65, SJP, 56, Kristin Davis, 56, and Cynthia Nixon, 55, weren't exactly best of friends. In a 2017 New York Post article, titled 'Inside the mean-girl culture that destroyed SATC', it notes that SJP and Cynthia quickly became friends as they knew each other before their time on the show as young Broadway actresses, and they then included Kristin in their group. However, Cattrall was left feeling even more isolated when series creator and producer Darren Star left, who was replaced by SJP's friend Michael Patrick King.
Four years after the series finished, a report in the Telegraph stated that Parker and Cattrall fell out over money when SJP was given an executive producer title in the second season, which increased her salary to $300,000. Upon finding this out, Kim apparently tried to negotiate for a higher salary - but this didn’t go down well, as apparently the other lead actresses ‘wouldn’t even sit with [Cattrall] at mealtimes.’ This same report also looked back at the time in 2004, when Cattrall didn't sit with the other actresses at the Emmys - to which she said: 'Are we the best of friends? No. We're professional actresses. We have our own separate lives.'
Ouch. It didn't get any better on the set of the first S-x And The City movie - as a 2009 article in New York magazine said Parker and Cattrall were no longer speaking. However, both of them later said in separate interviews that a fued didn't exist, and people simply didn't want to believe they got on.
Fast forward a few years, and it was reported that Kim was the reason the third SATC movie was stalled. According to the Daily Mail, she wanted Warner Bros to produce other movies she had in development or she wouldn't sign up for the project. Kim denied this, but in an episode of Piers Morgan's Life Stories that year, she confirmed that she had no interest in ever returning to the franchise. She told Piers: 'We've never been friends - we've been colleagues. And in some ways that's a very healthy place to be, as you have a clear line between your professional life, and your personal, too.' Then, Kim said she thought SJP could have been kinder to her, adding: 'I really think [SJP] could have been nicer.'
A year later, and their feud was left in no doubt. Following reports Kim's brother had died, SJP shared her condolences with her former castmate in an Instagram comment. This did not go down well with Kim, who responded in a separate post: 'Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were then and now,' she wrote. ‘Let me make this VERY clear. (If I haven’t already). You are not my family. You are not my friend.'
Kim is also said to have been disappointed with the way in which Samantha was treated in the second film and the planned third - the plot was said to have Brady, Miranda's 14-year-old son, s-xt Samantha - and has suggested the character should be recast. But who would ever be able to take Samantha's place? Honey, don't be ridiculous.
