LIFE & CULTURE

Why I Feel Personally Victimised By Kim Cattrall

This feud has gone too far

It all started in October last year when Sarah Jessica Parker revealed that the third Sex and the City movie wasn’t going ahead.

Though Parker didn’t go into detail about why the film had been scrapped, rumours quickly began circulating that Kim Cattrall, who played Samantha on the series, was to blame.

The Daily Mail ran a story insinuating the actress was making over the top demands on set, prompting Cattrall to take to Twitter, saying the only demand she made was that she didn’t want to do a third movie.

Things quickly escalated.

sarah jessica parker and kim cattrall
Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker in 2008

Days later, Cattrall opened up to Piers Morgan, saying Parker “could have been nicer” throughout their working relationship, prompting the New York Post to investigate.

The article they posted says a “mean-girl culture destroyed Sex and the City”, alleging Parker bullied Cattrall throughout the entirety of filming both the series and two movies.

“A clique began to form, leaving Cattrall out in the cold,” the story reads, revealing that by the end of the series, no one would talk to Cattrall – “not even in the makeup room.”

It was this article Cattrall linked back to in her scathing Instagram post earlier this week, branding Parker a hypocrite and telling her once and for all: “You are not my family. You are not my friend.”

It came after the unexpected death of Cattrall’s brother, and Parker publically sending condolences.

It would make sense that if someone had bullied you for coming up 20 years, without any repercussions to both their career and public image, you would be upset to find them publically speaking about the death of your close family member.

Or as Cattrall put it: “exploiting our tragedy in order to restore [her] ‘nice girl’ persona.”

While I certainly feel for Cattrall in such a devastating, personal time, I really hate that she posted this message so publically, without thought about how it would affect the Sex and the City enterprise for the very fans she thanked for support mere days before.

sex and the city

For many – myself very much included – SATC was far more than just a series.

It was what we turned to when we came home from a bad date, what helped to shape our careers (writer, thank you, Carrie), and most importantly: taught us that despite it all, friendship was always the most important thing.

A two-decade-long friendship which has now been torn to shreds by all the real-life drama that’s unfolded in the past four months.

To her credit, SJP has done everything in her power to not talk about the feud, saying again yesterday she’s not going to respond because she values SATC too much.

Regardless, there’s no way you could ever watch Carrie and Samantha in the same way again, not to mention Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis), who are also reported to have sided with Parker and left Cattrall out. 

It might seem an overreaction to some, but never again being able to watch something that shaped your late-teens and early-twenties so significantly feels heartbreaking. 

I can’t help but wonder, can anything fix what’s been done?

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