Sarah Jessica Parker Says Kim Cattrall Was the 'One Person Talking' to Fuel 'SATC' 'Catfight' Stories

Parker opened up about the long-simmering tension with her former Sex and the City costar: "I'm not going to tell her not to [talk about it], so that's been kind of painful for me"

Sarah Jessica Parker is finally speaking openly about her rift with former Sex and the City costar Kim Cattrall, acknowledging that "it's very hard to talk about the situation."

"I've been so careful about not ever wanting to say anything that is unpleasant," she told The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast, "because it's not the way I like to conduct conversations that are as complicated as this, you know?"

At this stage, Parker is tired of repeatedly discussing the drama between the two former colleagues.

"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," said Parker, 57. "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."

Parker continued, "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."

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty

Parker's tension with Cattrall, 65, has gone on for quite some time, and Cattrall has publicly slammed Parker on several occasions.

In 2017, Cattrall bluntly stated that she had "never been friends" with any of her former SATC cast mates — but she specifically called out Parker.

"This is really where I take to task the people from Sex and the City, and specifically Sarah Jessica Parker," she told Piers Morgan on Life Stories, per Daily Mail. "I think she could've been nicer. I really think she could've been nicer. I don't know what her issue is."

Weighing in on the matter one year later, Parker insisted there's "no catfight" between the pair.

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"I have never uttered an unkind, unsupportive, unfriendly word, so I would love to redefine it," she previously told Vulture. "I also want to remind everybody that there were four women on the set and I spent equal time with all of them, so this was not a set with two women who didn't get along."

Parker added, "I've always held Kim's work in high regard and always appreciative of her contributions. If she chooses not to do the third movie, there's not a lot I can do to change her mind and we must respect it. That's the only thing I've ever said about it, you know?"

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HBO Max revived Sex and the City in 2021 as And Just Like That.... The new series saw the return of all the original leading ladies return except Cattrall, whose character Samantha Jones became estranged from the friend group.

Parker confirmed on the Awards Chatter podcast that they "did not ask" Cattrall to return.

"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," she said. "That's not 'slamming' her, it's just learning. 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.'"