A Timeline of Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker's Rumored Sex and the City Feud
The very first episode of Sex and the City premiered 25 years ago, and the series is remembered for its larger-than-life fashion and flings. But even more controversial than some of the episodes is the enduring offscreen drama between stars Sarah Jessica Parker (who played Carrie Bradshaw) and Kim Cattrall (who played Samantha Jones). Even since the early days of SATC, there have been rumors of infighting between the pair and speculation has only strengthened with Cattrall’s absence from And Just Like That... an HBO Max revival about Carrie, Miranda (Cynthia Nixon), and Charlotte (Kristin Davis).
Here, a deep dive into the history of this supposed feud.
December 2004
Back in 2004, Cattrall appeared on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross, where she admitted money was part of the reason the show ended. "I felt after six years it was time for all of us to participate in the financial windfall of Sex and the City," she said. "When they didn't seem keen on that I thought it was time to move on." At the time, the show did not move forward with a seventh season or a movie.
May 2008
A report in the Telegraph addressed the rumors that Parker and Cattrall long had tensions over money. Parker was given an executive producer title back in the second season, which bumped her salary up to $300,000, causing Cattrall to reportedly negotiate for a higher salary. The Telegraph reported that crew members said the girls were not happy about this and "wouldn't even sit with [Cattrall] at mealtimes."
May 2008
The report also addressed the 2004 Emmy Awards where Parker, Nixon, and Davis all sat together while Cattrall sat by herself. In response, Cattrall said, "Are we the best of friends? No. We're professional actresses. We have our own separate lives."
May 2008
Though in the same report, Parker said the cast were friends: "Honestly, we are all friends and I wish I saw more of Kim. She mentioned money and no one should vilify her for it. People made a decision that we had vilified her."
June 2008
Marie Claire asked Cattrall about the rumor that she was the holdout on making the first movie. In response, Cattrall said, "Four years ago I was going through a painful public divorce, the series was coming to an end, and my father was diagnosed with dementia. I felt it was time to be with my real family. A year-and-a-half ago, when I was sent the script, I was ready and strong enough to revisit Samantha. In some ways, I'm glad we waited. The script and the experience of making the movie was the best possible reunion."
June 2008
In the same interview, Darren Star, the creator of the series touched on the rumored drama: "I think you have to draw the line between what's happening in gossip columns and what's happening on a set. You can't create that kind of chemistry. When you do a series for so many years, you can't fake it completely."
2009
As reported by the New York Post, a 2009 article in New York magazine said Parker and Cattrall were no longer speaking, "making everyone on the set of the new Sex and the City movie uncomfortable." Sex and the City 2 was released in 2010.
November 2009
When ELLE asked Parker about the rumors that Cattrall didn't get along with the other cast members, she said, "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 2010
Then when the Daily Mail brought up Parker's ELLE comments to Cattrall, she said, "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."
May 2010
The cast did an interview for Marie Claire, where Parker said sometimes "feelings get hurt" on set, and Nixon said, "it hasn't always been smooth sailing, but the idea that we're somehow adversarial is ludicrous."
May 2010
In the same interview, Cattrall shared her disappointment at the perceived feud: "…the press has to put women in these boxes, rather than show them as the movie portrays them: working together and being powerful. Things just have to be explosive for no other reason than for people's imaginations."
May 2010
Davis also talked about a tabloid story that said she and Cattrall would eat in their hotel restaurant but not sit together: "When I would get back from the set, I would go to the gym and get room service. I'm not a put-on-decent-clothes-and-go-to-the-hotel-restaurant person, but Kim is. The story was that we don't like each other. Ridiculous!"
September 2016
Years later, Parker did an interview with Time where she once again addressed the rumors: "It was always so heartbreaking to me that there was this narrative about Kim [Cattrall] 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 2016
Parker appeared on Howard Stern, where she said the rumors over the years truly bothered her. "Was every day perfect?" Parker said. "No, but this is a family of people who needed each other. This sort of narrative, this ongoing catfight…it used to really confound me and really upset me."
September 2017
The Daily Mail reported that the third Sex and the City movie was cancelled due to demands from Cattrall. According to the Daily Mail, "Warner Bros. had given the much-anticipated project the green light after months of speculation and the movie was supposed to start filming in the coming days. However, the studio can no longer move ahead as Cattrall, 61, demanded they 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."
September 2017
Cattrall tweeted that the only "demand" she made was not to do the movie; she claimed she said no to the movie back in 2016.
September 2017
Parker confirmed to Extra TV that there would be no Sex and the City 3: "It's over. We're not doing it... I'm disappointed. We had this beautiful, funny, heartbreaking, joyful, very relatable script and story. It’s not just disappointing that we don’t get to tell the story and have that experience, but I think more so for that audience that has been so vocal about wanting another movie."
September 2017
Davis also confirmed the news on her Instagram, writing, "It is true that we are not going to be able to make a 3rd film. I wish that we could have made the final chapter, on our own terms, to complete the stories of our characters. It is deeply frustrating not to able to share that chapter (beautifully written by MPK) with all of you."
October 2017
During an interview with Piers Morgan, Cattrall says she will not do another Sex and the City movie and that she was never really friends with her Sex and the City co-stars.
When asked by Morgan if there will ever be more Sex and the City, Cattral said, “Not for me. That was part of turning 60. That was a very clear moment of, how many years do I have left and what do I want to do with it? What haven’t I done? I feel that the show was the best when it was the series and the bonus was the two movies.”
October 2017
She went on to explain how she turned down an offer to make a third movie in December 2016. "The answer was simply thank you, but no, I'm good," she said. "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."
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