Sarah Jessica Parker finally breaks silence on fractured relationship with Kim Cattrall

Sarah Jessica Parker has opened up about one of Hollywood’s biggest rumoured feuds, calling the situation with former Sex And The City castmate Kim Cattrall “painful”.

After years of relative silence, Sarah Jessica Parker has finally opened up regarding tensions with former Sex And The City co-star Kim Cattrall.

It comes after a few weeks after Cattrall weighed-in on recent series revival And Just Like That … calling it “odd” that the show went on without fourth protagonist Samantha Jones. 

Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Sarah Jessica Parker, who plays New York writer Carrie Bradshaw in the series, was careful when choosing her words to describe her fractured relationship with Cattrall.

Sex and the City 2, released in 2010, was the last time Cattrall played the iconic Samantha Jones. Picture: AFP.

Acknowledging “it’s very hard to talk about the situation with Kim,” Parker said she wanted to set the record straight on the “painful” situation, insisting it is not a two-way “catfight”.

Feud rumours have been stewing for years, but came to a head in 2017 when a third Sex And The City movie was mooted. The project failed to go ahead reportedly over Cattrall’s contractual demands.

“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,” Parker recounted. “Were we [she and co-stars Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon] disappointed? Sure. But it happens.”

The actress went on to explain that she was hurt by how Cattrall spoke about the situation in the press.

“There were just a lot of public conversations about how she felt about the show,” Parker said, adding, “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.”

Sarah Jessica Parker says the conversations about her fractured relationship with Cattrall have been ‘painful’. Picture: AFP

Cattrall has said in the past that Parker ‘could have been nicer’ when they worked together. Picture: AFP.

Shortly after the film fell apart, Cattrall sat down with Piers Morgan for an interview, during which she denied shutting down the production over contract squabbles, saying she simply did not want to reprise her role.

She added that she was disappointed by the negative backlash and how it was handled by the cast, adding that the four women were “never really friends”.

“And this is really where I take to task the people from Sex And The City and specifically Sarah Jessica Parker in that I think she could have been nicer.”

Later in the interview Cattrall, 65, again spoke of Parker, 57, saying “they were never friends”.

“I don’t know what her issue is, I never have,” she said.

Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker pictured together in 2009. Picture: Getty Images.

The rift came to a crescendo over talks of a third SATC movie in 2017. Picture: AFP.

Cattrall was never included in planning for And Just Like That …, which Parker said was a choice made in light of her response to requests for a third SATC film.

“We did not ask her to be part of this [And Just Like That] 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,” Parker said.

“That’s not ‘slamming’ her, it’s just learning. You’ve got to listen to somebody, and if they’re publicly talking about something and it doesn’t suggest it’s someplace 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.’”

She added, “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’ – a ‘fight,’ a ‘fight,’ a ‘fight.’ I’ve never uttered fighting words in my life about anybody that I’ve worked with – ever.

“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.

“So I just wish that they would stop calling this a ‘catfight’ or an ‘argument,’ because it doesn’t reflect [reality]. There has been one person talking.”

‘There is not a ‘fight’ going on,’ says Parker.

Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kristin Davis all star in And Just Like That ... Picture: HBO/Binge

During the first season of And Just Like That … Samantha – who has relocated to London – is present across several episodes via texts to Carrie.

Her absence from the group is attributed to a falling out she had with Carrie after she was dropped as her publicist. While Samantha never appears on the screen, the series alludes to the pair catching up and potentially making amends in the finale.

In a recent interview with Variety, Cattrall said of 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.

“It’s so finite for me, so it doesn’t continue … 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.”

The SATC alum maintained that saying goodbye to Samantha Jones was the “right” thing to do in her career.

“And you can’t go against that feeling,” she affirmed. “I don’t ever want to be on a set and not want to be there.”

She explained of the revival: “I was never asked to be part of [it]. I made my feelings clear after the possible third movie, so I found out about it like everyone else did – on social media.”

As for her reaction to fans who were disappointed by Samantha’s absence from the series, she said: “The greatest compliment I could have as an actor is to be missed.”