And Just Like That… Sarah Jessica Parker Let It Be Known That Kim Cattrall Is Officially Not Invited Back

Throughout the first season of And Just Like That…, Sex and the City fans missed Samantha. Within the show, Carrie, Charlotte, and Miranda missed Samantha. But it looks like there was at least one person who did not miss Samantha: Sarah Jessica Parker.

The reboot’s season finale seemingly left the door open for Kim Cattrall’s return, but when asked in an interview for Variety if she’d be alright with Cattrall rejoining the cast, SJP made it clear that she was having none of it.

“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,” she said. “I haven’t participated in or read articles, although people are inclined to let me know.”

Parker revealed that, after Cattrall’s refusal to participate in a third SATC movie reportedly scuttled the project, she wasn’t invited to appear on AJLT at all.

“We didn’t go to Kim for this, you know,” Parker told Variety. “After we didn’t do the movie and the studio couldn’t meet what she wanted to do, we have to hear her and listen to her and what was important to her. It didn’t fit into what was important or needed for us.”

While Cattrall has spent the better part of two decades generally being upfront about on-set tensions, this polite rebuff pretty much amounts to fighting words for Parker, who’s often denied that she and her co-star have ever feuded. The rumors date back to the end of SATC’s original run, which may have had something to do with HBO’s failure to meet Cattrall’s salary requests. “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 during a 2004 talk show appearance. “When they didn’t seem keen on that I thought it was time to move on.”

Still, in 2009, Parker said that she “adore[d]” Cattrall, and wouldn’t have made Sex and The City 2 without her. Later, she suggested that reports of infighting among the series’ leads were rooted in sexism, a take that Cattrall seemed to agree with. “People don’t want to believe that we get on,” she told the Daily Mail in 2010. “They have too much invested in the idea of two strong, successful women fighting with each other. It makes for juicy gossip and copy.

By 2017, though, Cattrall was telling Piers Morgan that she and Parker were never friends, and that she would never play Samantha again. “This is really where I take to task the people from Sex and the City, and specifically Sarah Jessica Parker,” she said at the time. “I think she could’ve been nicer. I really think she could’ve been nicer. I don’t know what her issue is.”

It all took a deeply sad turn in 2018, when Cattrall’s younger brother went missing and was later found dead by suicide. Parker posted a condolence message to social media, which Cattrall did not appreciate. “My Mom asked me today ‘When will that @sarahjessicaparker, that hypocrite, leave you alone?’” Cattrall posted to Instagram. “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.”

It’s definitely not a dynamic that seems conducive to productive workplace collaboration. But at least these days, it seems that Parker and Cattrall might finally be on the same page: Parker isn’t eager for Samantha to return, and Cattrall definitely isn’t knocking down the door either.

• It’s a good time to be Julia Fox’s friend, and maybe a bad time to be North West’s TikTok account. [BuzzFeed/Page Six]
• RHOSLC’s Mary Cosby has said that she’s definitely not a cult leader, and now she’s definitely not a reality TV star, either. [Page Six]
• A love born of a shared passion for luxury real estate and murky office ethics never dies: Selling Sunset’s Jason Oppenheim is reportedly “still madly in love” with his ex-girlfriend Chrishell Stause. [Us Weekly]
• Khloe Kardashian doesn’t think that Harry Jowsey is too hot to handle. [E! Online]
• Swifty school is in session: NYU is teaching a course that “deconstruct[s] both the appeal and aversions to Taylor Swift through close readings of her music and public discourse.” [Variety]