Sarah Jessica Parker has said it is “so painful” to hear people describe her interactions with Sex And The City co-star Kim Cattrall as a “catfight” as she feels there has only been one person talking.
The American actress starred as Carrie Bradshaw in the original six series of the show and for two subsequent feature films in 2008 and 2010, alongside Kim as Samantha Jones.
Over the years there have been reports of a rift between the co-stars, with Kim revealing last month that she had not been asked to be part of the show’s recent reboot And Just Like That as she had previously made her feelings clear that she did not want to reprise the role.
SJP told the Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast: “It’s so painful for people to keep talking about this ‘catfight’ – 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, actually, there has been one person talking.
“And I’m not going to tell her not to, or anybody. So that’s been kind of painful for me also.”
Kim told Variety magazine last month that she thought of her Sex And The City co-stars as “colleagues”, and added: “My colleagues aren’t my friends. It was professional.”
She also said she had turned down a script for a possible third movie in 2017 as she felt the proposed plot, in which her character received unwanted pictures from her friend’s 14-year-old son, was “heartbreaking”.
Discussing the third film, Sarah Jessica said Kim had requested things the filmmakers were “not able to do” so the movie did not go ahead.
She added: “It wasn’t that she said no to the movie. It’s that the studio said no to the movie, which you know happens.
“Every actor has a right to ask for things, to have a contract that feels good to them.
“I never would have disputed that because, frankly, that’s not my business. Were we disappointed? Sure. But it happens.”
The new 10-part series saw SJP return as New York City columnist Carrie Bradshaw, Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes and Kristin Davis as Charlotte York, but with Kim absent.
Sarah Jessica said: “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.
“There just isn’t anybody else who has talked about me in this way, so it’s very painful because she’s a huge contributor to the success.”
She said Kim’s portrayal of Samantha was “wonderful” but noted that they knew she no longer wanted to pursue the part so she was not approached.
She added: “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’.”