Why is Kim Cattrall not in SATC? Feud timeline with Sarah Jessica Parker explained as co-star Chris Noth defends latter

Kim Cattrall’s absence from the upcoming SATC reboot And Just Like That… is making news once again ahead of the show’s premiere this week. The news of her absence was confirmed when the HBO Max series was first announced in January 2021.

While initial reports suggested that Cattrall’s departure came after she refused to reprise her role as Samantha Jones, several fans attributed the move to her longtime feud with co-star Sarah Jessica Parker.

Meanwhile, director Michael Patrick King told The Hollywood Reporter that the revival was never intended to include Samatha’s character and was written around the lives of Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte (played by Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis, respectively):

“It never was on the radar as four because Kim Cattrall, for whatever reason, didn’t want to play Samantha anymore while we were doing the [third] movie. “I never thought, ‘Oh, there’s a hole I have to fill.’ Samantha doesn’t not exist in their lives. The show was born of these three characters: What’s their life, and who can I bring in to inform it?”

More recently, Chris Noth, who played Mr. Big on SATC, opened up about the rift between Cattrall and Parker during an interview with The Guardian. He also defended the latter:

“I’m very close with SJ and [Cattrall’s] descriptions of her don’t even come close. I liked her, I thought she was marvellous in the show and some people move on for their own reasons. I don’t know what hers were. I just wish that whole thing had never happened because it was sad and uncomfortable.”

The infamous clash between Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall first came to light towards the end of SATC’s sixth and final season in 2004 and revolved around disputes related to their respective wages on the show.

Cattrall previously called her costars “toxic” and mentioned she was never friends with Parker. However, the latter claimed that she never “disliked” Kim Cattrall despite their differences.

Nearly two decades later, the alleged fight between the stars continues to make headlines and has garnered further attention amid HBO Max's revival of SATC and confirmation of Kim Cattrall’s absence from the show.

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A look into the Kim Cattrall x Sarah Jessica Parker feud

Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker's tension dates back to 1999 (Image via James Devaney/Getty Images)

The ongoing feud between Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker reportedly dates back to 1999. According to The Telegraph, the former demanded a raise in her salary after the second season of SATC when Parker became the show's executive producer and earned an individual hike.

The outlet alleged that Cattrall’s demands did not sit well with her three co-stars and they refused to spend time with her during meal times. The issue came under further scrutiny during the 2004 Emmys when Parker sat with Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis, but Kim Cattrall was nowhere to be with her co-stars despite being present at the venue.

Kim Cattrall also addressed the seating arrangement issue during an interview and mentioned that the stars were not best friends:

"Are we the best of friends? No. We're professional actresses. We have our own separate lives."

That same year, Kim Cattrall opened up about the situation during an appearance on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross and mentioned that she decided to “move on” from the show due to financial issues:

"I felt after six years it was time for all of us to participate in the financial windfall of S*x and the City. When they didn't seem keen on that I thought it was time to move on."

However, in a separate interview, Sarah Jessica Parker mentioned that Kim Cattrall should not be vilified for her monetary demands:

"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."

Amid the ongoing financial drama, the first SATC film eventually saw the light of day and was released in 2008. However, rumors about Kim Cattrall and Parker’s feud beyond screens continued to make the rounds online.

In 2009, The New York Post revealed that the stars were no longer on speaking terms and made everyone on the set of SATC uncomfortable. However, Parker continued to deny the rumors and told Elle:

"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."

In an interview with Marie Claire, Parker mentioned that even though the journey has not been easy, the ongoing feud has become more of a fodder for tabloids:

"It hasn't always been smooth sailing, but the idea that we're somehow adversarial is ludicrous."

Years later, things took a turn for the worse when a third SATC film was cancelled, and Kim Cattrall revealed she no longer wanted to play Samantha and that it would be a “challenge” to do a third film installment.

Meanwhile, Kim Cattrall’s co-stars continued to express their disappointment over the cancelation of the third movie. In 2016, the former opened up about her decision during an interview with Pierce Morgan and took a direct jab at Parker during the interview:

“It’s quite extraordinary to get any kind of negative press about something that I’ve been saying for almost a year of ‘no’ that I’m demanding or a diva. And now 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. I think she really could have been nicer. I don’t know what her issue is, I never have.”

That same year, Parker told Howard Stern she was “upset” over the ongoing catfight narrative:

"Was every day perfect? 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."

The professional rift between Parker and Cattrall became personal when the latter’s brother passed away in 2018. In light of the tragic event, Sarah offered Kim Cattrall her condolences on Instagram but the latter slammed The Family Stone star for exploiting her tragedy:

“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.”

During a 2018 appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Parker mentioned that the opinion Kim Cattrall had of their equation left her “heartbroken”:

"The whole week…I was really, I found it very upsetting because that's not the way I recall our experience."

Sources close to the stars told US Weekly at the time that the Kim Cattrall’s reaction left all her co-stars surprised:

"Their costars can’t understand why Kim lashed out. It wasn’t this bad during filming… There’s no love there, but Sarah Jessica was just being polite. It’s sad."

Meanwhile, showrunner Michael Patrick King also confirmed the tensions between the cast members:

“As the show progressed, the characters, everybody grew, it became a family. Kristin, Cynthia, and Sarah Jessica became one group, and Kim never joined mentally. Kristin and Cynthia went in the light.”

Almost three years later, the SATC reboot has officially been confirmed by HBO Max, but it was also announced that the show would go ahead with Kim Cattrall. Reports suggest that the latter’s character will not join the three other leads and will be briefly mentioned as being settled in London.