"Sex and the City" cast and crew open up on Kim Cattrall drama
Cast and crew members from "Sex and the City" are opening up about why Kim Cattrall has spoken out against the franchise. They claimed that Cattrall was upset that star Sarah Jessica Parker commanded a higher salary than she did.
On the pop culture podcast "Origins," "Sex and the City" executive producer Michael Patrick King explained that Parker was always seen as the star of the series. He said Parker was paid accordingly.
"The show doesn't exist if Sarah Jessica wasn't the blonde star of the show, that's number one," he said. "Kim was not at the height of her career, Kristin was under her in terms of notability, Cynthia was a theater actress and their contracts reflected that status."
King said that while Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis were understanding of the pay differences, Cattrall never got over the disparity.
"As the show progressed, the characters, everybody grew, it became a family," King said. "Kristin, Cynthia, and Sarah Jessica became one group, and Kim never joined mentally. Kristin and Cynthia went in the light, they became those two ladies, they understood it was Sarah Jessica's name — look at the posters."
Cattrall allegedly claimed that she was "everyone's favorite," King said, and wanted a salary as high as Parker's. But King said, "I guess for Kim it didn't matter how much the raise became if there was never parity, but there was never going to be parity."
Parker said she tried to support Cattrall and get her on board for a "Sex and the City 3" movie. But Parker explained, "The studio said, 'We can't meet those asks of hers. We're not able to do it; the economics don't make sense for us.' So then it's over. But that's not a character assassination, that's just the way business works."
The actress added that she feels no ill will toward Cattrall, saying, "I'm not in a catfight with anybody. I've never publicly — ever — said anything unfriendly, unappreciative about Kim because that's not how I feel about her." She also denied that she and Cattrall fought on set, saying, "We just couldn't have functioned. I would've had stomachaches every day."
In February, Cattrall made headlines when she lashed out at Parker on social media. Parker expressed her condolences over the death of Cattrall's brother, Chris, and Cattrall responded, "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."
Earlier that month, Parker said she was "heartbroken" by Cattrall's remark that they were never friends.
"I found it very upsetting because that's not the way I recall our experience, so it's sad, but I'm kind of — I always think that what ties us together is this singular experience. It was a professional experience, but it became personal because it was years and years of our lives, so I'm hoping that that sort of eclipses anything that's been recently spoken," Parker said.
Last year, Cattrall told Piers Morgan on ITV of her cast mates, "We've never been friends. We've been colleagues, and in some ways it's a very healthy place to be." She also confirmed that she turned down the chance to appear in a third "Sex and the City" film and will never play Samantha again.