In recent years, Sex and the City has become just as renowned for its offscreen drama as it is for its fictional story, with Kim Cattrall being incredibly vocal about her negative experience on the show.
Kim was one of SATC’s four lead actors, and she played sex-obsessed PR guru Samantha Jones in all six seasons and both movies.
But there have been rumors of tension between Kim and her costars for quite some time. In 2004, speculation grew when Kim sat separately from the series’ other leading ladies — Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis — at the Emmys.
At the time, the women denied that there was any ill feeling between them and would regularly shut down claims that they don’t get along.
However, the truth began to out in 2017, when the Daily Mail reported that plans for a third Sex and the City movie had been axed because of Kim’s “demands” just days before shooting was due to start.
A source claimed at the time: “Cattrall demanded [Warner Bros.] produce other movies she had in development or she wouldn't sign up for the project. Warner Bros. refused to meet her demands and had to cancel production as the company decided it wouldn't be fair to fans to produce a movie with only three of the four main characters."
This marked a turning point for Kim, who responded to the report by claiming that she’d said no to the movie back in 2016 as she denied making any “demands.”
Woke 2 a @MailOnline 💩storm! The only 'DEMAND' I ever made was that I didn't want to do a 3rd film....& that was back in 2016
The next month, Kim lashed out at Sarah Jessica when she explicitly named her in an explosive interview with Piers Morgan.
As she insisted that she will never reprise the role of Samantha again, Kim said of the third movie: “The answer was simply thank you, but no, I'm good. This isn't about more money. It's not about more scenes. It's not about any of those things. This is about a clear decision, an empowered decision in my life to end one chapter and start another… It's a great part. I played it past the finish line and then some, and I loved it."
She added that she had “never been friends” with her costars, before saying: “This is really where I take to task the people from Sex and the City, and specifically Sarah Jessica Parker. I think she could've been nicer. I really think she could've been nicer. I don't know what her issue is."
Sarah Jessica responded by saying that she was “heartbroken” by Kim’s “very upsetting” comments during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, where she also said: “That’s not the way I recall our experience.”
In February 2018, the situation between Kim and Sarah Jessica further deteriorated following the tragic death of Kim’s brother.
Kim took issue when Sarah Jessica commented her condolences on an Instagram post, and Kim publicly accused her of “exploiting [her family’s] tragedy.”
Sarah Jessica had written: “Dearest Kim, my love and condolences to you and yours and Godspeed to your beloved brother. Xx."
Kim then wrote in an Instagram post: “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."
Her former costar did not respond at the time, but two months later she insisted that “there is no catfight” when she was asked about the feud at Tribeca Film Festival.
"I have never uttered an unkind, unsupportive, unfriendly word, so I would love to redefine it,” Sarah Jessica said of the one-sided rivalry. “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?”
And in August 2019, Kim once again reiterated that she will never play Samantha again. “I couldn't understand why they wouldn't just replace me with another actress instead of wasting time bullying. No means no,” she told the Guardian at the time.
“I don't want to be in a situation for even an hour where I'm not enjoying myself,” Kim later added.
So when Sex and the City’s sequel series And Just Like That was announced in 2021, it was no surprise to anybody that Kim — and consequently Samantha — would not be in the show.
Kim did not publicly comment on the series, but she did make her feelings relatively clear when she was caught liking a selection of shady tweets that lauded her decision to distance herself from the project.
One of those tweets, posted in March of this year, read: “So proud of @KimCattrall for skipping the trashy S&TC reboot and doing @HIMYFonHulu. She’s wonderful, and so is @HilaryDuff.”
So proud of @KimCattrall for skipping the trashy S&TC reboot and doing @HIMYFonHulu. She’s wonderful, and so is @HilaryDuff 👌🏼 If you have 48 minutes to spare, go ahead and watch the first two episodes…I may even rewatch them before next week. Challenge accepted!
And it appears that Kim has absolutely zero regrets over her decision to step away from Samantha Jones for good, with the actor making an apparent jibe about her Sex and the City experience at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards on Friday.
The star was presented with the Screen Icon accolade at the ceremony, and she couldn’t resist hinting at her difficult past jobs in her acceptance speech, which sparked a mixed reaction from fans.
“This is what happens when you go where you're celebrated and not where you're tolerated,” Kim pointedly told the crowd.
Kim shared Glamour’s post of this quote to her Instagram profile, and it didn’t take long for her followers to read between the lines — but not everybody was on the same page.
While many shared their allegiance to Kim as they spoke out against the show, others begged the star to stop the public mud-slinging.
“The show without you is so boring,” one wrote in reference to And Just Like That. Another said: “The glow up is real. She endured and then left when the time was right.”
One more joked: “Ouch is that meant for anyone in particular?😂”
But some fans weren’t laughing, with one commenting: “Happy for you, but enough with the shade❤️”
Another agreed: “🙄 always casting shade, please - get over yourself….not celebrating that✌🏼.” Someone else echoed: “Honestly move on.”
In April, Sarah Jessica made the uncharacteristic decision to address Kim’s past remarks as she admitted that she wouldn’t be comfortable welcoming her back to the franchise.
“If some miracle were to happen, and Cattrall wanted to play Samantha again, would Parker be OK with that?” Variety asked in an interview.
“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,” Sarah Jessica confessed. “I haven’t participated in or read articles, although people are inclined to let me know.”
And the actor’s comments came after the show’s creator, Michael Patrick King, said that the door isn’t open for Kim to return as a direct result of what she’d said.
He told the same publication: “There was no thought that Kim would ever participate in And Just Like That, because she’s said what she had said.”
“The only place I participate in magical thinking is in fiction. You take people at their word, and you’re a smart producer — you don’t back yourself into a corner,” Michael added. “Magically thinking, it’s great to have Samantha. I have no realistic expectation of Kim Cattrall ever appearing again.”
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Sarah Jessica also said that she found Kim’s allegations “very painful” as she insisted that it did not reflect the experiences that she, Cynthia, and Kristin had on set.
“I’ve spent a lot of years working really hard to always be decent to everybody on the set," Sarah Jessica explained. "And there just isn’t anyone else who’s ever talked about me this way.”
“I just want to say one thing, because you’ve allowed me this opportunity: It’s so painful for people to keep talking about this ‘catfight,’" she later added. "There is not a ‘fight’ going on. There has been no public dispute or spat or conversations or allegations made by me or anybody on my behalf. I wouldn’t do it. That is not the way I would have it.”
