Sex and the City hit your parents’ HBO subscription in 1998, and it’s been straight-up d-r-a-m-a ever since. Like, there’s even been drama about how there is “no drama.” And while no one but the cast knows what actually went down behind the scenes, at some point the internet decided Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker were feuding. And thanks to (1) HBO Max’s Sex and the City spin-off And Just Like That… (which has been greenlit for season 2) and (2) a recent interview Kim did with Variety, the actors’ alleged “feud” has once again become a talking point.
By way of a little background, it’s important to note that there was a pretty major pay disparity among the Sex and the City cast: Sarah Jessica Parker earned a much larger salary than her costars due to being the show’s lead (as well as a producer). Kim wanted more money as the show became more successful, and negotiations between her and the producers took a turn for the very public—and the very yikes. Which brings us to our timeline, ahem!
September 19, 2004
After SATC ends its run on HBO, the cast heads to the Emmys and everyone is quick to notice that Kim doesn’t sit with her costars.
November 12, 2004
During an interview on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, Kim says that salary discrepancies did, indeed, impact the show ending when it did. “I felt after six years, it was time for all of us to participate in the financial windfall of Sex and the City. When they didn’t seem keen on that, I thought it was time to move on.”
May 19, 2008
Four years after the series finale, the SATC movie starts filming—after allegedly being delayed due to Kim’s salary negotiations. Sucks for fans, but seems fair, IMO. Sarah Jessica Parker even supports Kim, telling The Telegraph, “She mentioned money and no one should vilify her for it. People made a decision that we had vilified her.”
In the same interview, Kim talks about the filming holdup and says, “I was going through a divorce and my job of seven years was coming to an end. Then my dad was diagnosed with dementia. So I took a step back and returned to Canada, where my family is—that’s the reason behind it. It wasn’t all about the money.”
November 5, 2009
While filming SATC 2, Sarah Jessica Parker covers Elle and says, “I don’t think anybody wants to believe that I love Kim. I adore her. I wouldn’t have done the movie without her. Didn’t and wouldn’t.”
January 8, 2010
Kim denies feud rumors in an interview with the Daily Mail:
“I think Sarah was right: People don’t want to believe that we get on. They have too much invested in the idea of two strong, successful women fighting with each other. It makes for juicy gossip and copy. The truth of us being friends and getting along and happily doing our jobs together is nowhere near as newsworthy. I think Sarah is fantastic. She is a born leader and she guides the crew and the cast in such a strong but gentle way. She and I are sick of this. It’s exhausting talking about it and a real bore. Next?”
May 5, 2010
The cast covers Marie Claire ahead of Sex and the City 2 and continues to shut down feud rumors. SJP put it this way:
“When you’re on-set, you’re working 90-hour weeks, you’re never home, you’re exhausted. There are times when all of us have been sensitive, and sometimes feelings get hurt. But I don’t have any regrets about how I’ve treated people.”
August 21, 2016
SJP wishes Kim a happy birthday with a giant photo of her face:
September 28, 2016
SJP tells Time, “It was always so heartbreaking to me that there was this narrative about Kim and myself because it just didn’t reflect anything that happened on that set. They just didn’t do it to the Sopranos guys. It was so strange to me and upsetting. I posted something on Kim’s birthday and people were like, ‘Oh my god, I didn’t know you liked her!’ What? We were all at liberty to walk away at any time! But nobody asked those questions of shows with men. Isn’t that interesting?”
October 18, 2016
SJP opens up to Howard Stern, saying, “This sort of narrative, this ongoing catfight, it really used to upset me. It was usually about bad behavior on the set and I take very seriously my reputation. I work really hard and I treat people well. I have a work ethic that’s very meaningful to me and it’s based on the affection I feel for the people I get to work with. To suggest that I’m behaving poorly or not treating somebody well…it would drive me bananas.”
September 29, 2017
As news breaks that Sex and the City 3 isn’t happening, Kim shuts down speculation that she was somehow responsible for it:
That same day, the rest of the cast talks about how disappointed they are that the movie isn’t happening, and things get a little, ahem, pointed:
October 7, 2017
The New York Post publishes an entire article about the “mean girls” culture on the set of Sex and the City. The report includes a bunch of aggregated claims of SJP being “mean” to Kim, including from one source who says, “[Kim] feels she has been treated horribly by Sarah Jessica Parker for six years.”
Why is this particular tabloid report relevant, you ask? Stay tuned.
October 24, 2017
Kim responds to speculation that her “demands” held up the third Sex and the City movie during an interview with Piers Morgan, saying, “We’ve never been friends. We’ve been colleagues, and in some ways, it’s a very healthy place to be.”
She also told Morgan that no one had reached out to her about reports that it was her fault the third movie was canceled: “Nobody ever picks up the phone and tries to contact you and say, ‘How you doing?’ That would have been the way to handle it. This is, it feels like, a toxic relationship.”
February 1, 2018
SJP reacts to Kim’s interview with Morgan, telling Andy Cohen, “I found it very upsetting because that’s not the way I recall our experience. It’s sad, but I always think that what ties us together is this singular experience. 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.”
February 10, 2018
Kim makes it clear she’s not on good terms with SJP, responding to good wishes about her brother’s sudden passing by writing, “Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were then and now.” She adds, “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.”
As you can see, Kim also included the literal URL to that 2017 New York Post article about the “mean girl” culture on SATC—indicating that much of it was true, at least according to her.
February 14, 2018
Sarah Jessica Parker insists she and Kim Never. Had. Drama. during an interview with People:
“I never talked about it, except [to say] that some of us were disappointed [about the movie not happening]. But 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. We had a connection with an audience, and we had a connection with the city and with this crew, and we got to tell these crazy stories with each other. So I don’t want to mess with that. I couldn’t imagine anyone else playing that part. So 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.”
February 26, 2018
Cynthia Nixon makes it pretty clear how she feels about the situation with an extremely subtle and completely understated Instagram post!
April 23, 2018
SPJ once again insists that there is no drama to be found, telling Vulture:
“I have never uttered an unkind, unsupportive, unfriendly word, so I would love to redefine it. I also want to remind everybody that there were four women on the set and I spent equal time with all of them, so this was not a set with two women who didn’t get along. I’ve always held Kim’s work in high regard and always appreciative of her contributions. If she chooses not to do the third movie, there’s not a lot I can do to change her mind and we must respect it. That’s the only thing I’ve ever said about it, you know?”
September 17, 2018
Fans accuse Kristin Davis of stirring the pot by leaving Kim out of this SATC throwback post:
November 19, 2018
Producer/writer Michael Patrick King talks to the Hollywood Reporter about the salary discrepancy on Sex and the City. As he bluntly put it:
“The show doesn’t exist if Sarah Jessica wasn’t the blonde star of the show, that’s number one. Kim was not at the height of her career, Kristin was under her in terms of notability, Cynthia was a theater actress—and their contracts reflected that status.”
November 26, 2018
A source tells E! News that one of the reasons Kim turned down a third movie is that she didn’t like Samantha’s storyline: “Kim never wanted to really do the movie to begin with. It was a combination of not great money and a bad storyline for Samantha. It was a bad script.”
January 11, 2021
SJP announces that Sex and the City is coming back to HBO—without Kim.
She even specifically confirms that Kim won’t be in the show and denies disliking her to a commenter:
January 13, 2021
Kim Cattrall “breaks her silence” (kinda) by Liking this pretty pointed tweet about the SATC reboot:
February 12, 2021
Samantha is indeed getting written off the new Sex and the City show, but even though Kim’s exit from the series has been dramatic, Samantha’s won’t be.
HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys told TV Line that Samantha will be absent because she simply grew apart from the rest of the crew.
“Just as in real life, people come into your life, people leave,” she said. “Friendships fade, and new friendships start. So I think it is all very indicative of the real stages, the actual stages of life.”
July 9, 2021
The first pics drop from the set of And Just Like That… with Miranda, Carrie, and Charlotte stylishly strutting down an NYC street—and Samantha is a noticeable absence.
October 2021
Candace Bushnell, aka the author whose book Sex and the City was adapted into the series we’ve come to know and love, spoke to the New York Post about Kim not being a part of the reboot while also mentioning that she didn’t know anything about the reboot’s storyline and doesn’t have any involvement with it. “I absolutely love Kim,” Bushnell said, “but it seems she wants to do other things and she doesn’t feel like doing the show. Maybe she doesn’t want to be that character anymore. Maybe she doesn’t want to put the Spanx on!”
December 2021
While doing press for And Just Like That…, Kristin spoke with the Today show about whether Kim’s absence would be explained in the reboot, to which the actor replied, “Yes.” “We love Samantha. Samantha is never not going to be a part in some way, right? So there is respect for Samantha. It’s part of the story. We would never disrespect Samantha.”
When the show debuts on December 9, viewers learn Samantha’s absence is a result of her moving to London for work after Carrie no longer wants her as a publicist. Subsequently, Samantha stops returning calls and texts from all three of her former friends. “I always thought the four of us would be friends forever,” Carrie muses in the show.
February 2022
In an interview with Variety, SJP reveals that by the end of the first season of And Just Like That…, Carrie and Samantha resolve their differences—once again, via text. Although the spoiler immediately had many wondering if this was a subtle hint that Kim’s character might be in season 2, SJP said the following when asked about whether she would want the How I Met Your Father star back again: “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.…I haven’t participated in or read articles, although people are inclined to let me know.”
Creator Michael Patrick King also added, “Magically thinking, it’s great to have Samantha. I have no realistic expectation of Kim Cattrall ever appearing again.”
May 2022
Kim’s interview with Variety sets the record straight on how she feels about the original SATC cast reprising their roles on And Just Like That… without her.
“It’s odd, isn’t it? I don’t know how to feel about it,” she says. “It’s so finite for me, so it doesn’t continue. I think I would ponder it more if I didn’t have something like Queer as Folk or How I Met Your Father. That’s kind of where I’m centered around. This feels like an echo of the past.…I loved [Samantha]. I loved her so, so, so much. It’s tough competition. The original show is in all of our imaginations. But for me, it feels clean.”
When asked whether she was ever friends with her SATC costars, Kim adds, “I guess it’s how you define friends. I think we were colleagues. My colleagues aren’t my friends. It was professional.”
Aaand that brings us up to date! We’ll be updating this if anything else happens, which very well may be the case with And Just Like That… being renewed for season ✌🏻.
