Sarah Jessica Parker Can’t Stop Defending Herself, And It’s Getting Weird

The saga that is Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker’s feud continues and, oh my god, I wish it wouldn’t.

Parker is once again addressing what went down behind-the-scenes that led to Cattrall’s decision to not return to the spinoff (And Just Like That…) of the iconic franchise (Sex and the City) that made her a household name. During a recent appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Parker shared how she’s been dealing with the media circus surrounding her relationship (or lack thereof) with Cattrall.

For her part, Cattrall threw even more shade at her former cast mates just last month, adding details about why she chose not to come back for a third SATC movie. On Parker’s side of things, she’s always maintained that she wasn’t aware Cattrall felt the way she did. While speaking on the podcast, the 57-year-old expressed the “pain” she feels whenever the media focuses on Cattrall’s absence:

“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.”

She went on to reiterate her frustrations at being dragged into a fight that she claims she didn’t provoke:

“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 actuality — there has been one person talking.”

Sure, there’s been one person doing most of the talking—Kim Cattrall—but she said what she said and kept it moving. So, why can’t Parker do the same?

Cattrall’s issues with Parker seem to have spanned the entirety of their time on SATC, and came to a head when the British-Canadian actor blasted Parker for leaving a sympathy note after her brother died in 2018. Cattrall shared her disdain in an Instagram post, where she accused Parker of “exploiting” her tragic loss to retain her “nice girl persona.” That kickstarted years of headlines about the actors’ so-called feud.

But it can’t go unacknowledged: Parker’s recent remarks were clearly meant to dispel the rumors that SATC was a tension-filled set and the fact that she might be difficult to work with:

“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.”

She also confirmed the obvious, as in, why Cattrall wasn’t invited to reprise her role for the revival. “We did not ask her to be part of this 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 explained.

And just to cover all her bases to avoid another onslaught of controversy, Parker made sure to note that she’s not “slamming” Cattrall but merely trying to learn how to listen to what people want:

“You’ve got to listen to somebody, and if they’re publicly talking about something and it doesn’t suggest it’s some place 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.’”

We’ve heard more than enough about this never-ending saga. I’m more than ready to close this chapter for good, and I’d love to see Parker agree. The more she defends herself, the guiltier she appears. At this point, it’s getting weird.