Sarah Jessica Parker on Kim Cattrall's 'painful' comments

Sarah Jessica Parker, star of the "Sex and the City" sequel series "And Just Like That…," is shooting down talk of contentiousness between herself and former co-star Kim Cattrall, who after the original series and two movies declined to further reprise her role as Samantha.

"It's very hard to talk about the situation with Kim because I've been so careful about not ever wanting to say anything that is unpleasant, because it's not the way I like to conduct conversations that are as complicated as this," Emmy Award winner Parker, 57, said in an interview posted Thursday on The Hollywood Reporter's "Awards Chatter" podcast.

"When we were going to do the third movie," Parker recalled of the franchise about four upscale Manhattan career women, "there were things that she requested that [the studio and the producers] were not able to do … and so we didn't do the movie because we didn't want to do it without Kim, and the studio wasn't going to do it, so it fell apart. It wasn't that she said 'no' to the movie — it's that the studio said 'no' to the movie, which happens."

Saying it was "not for me" to contradict Cattrall's "public conversations about how she felt about the show," Parker did take exception to any suggestion that she was not "decent to everybody on the set" or not "responsible to and for people … . And there just isn't anyone else who's ever talked about me this way, so it's very painful." 

While calling the 65-year-old Cattrall "a huge contributor to the success" of the 1998-2004 original HBO series, Parker said, "We did not ask her to be part of this [sequel series on HBO Max] because 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. But that's not 'slamming' her."

Parker called it "painful for people to keep talking about this 'catfight' … I've never uttered fighting words in my life about anybody that I've worked with, ever … . There has been no public dispute or spat or conversations or allegations made by me or anybody on my behalf … . There has been one person talking … . And I'm not going to tell her not to."

In 2017, when declining to be in a third film, Cattrall said in a U.K. TV interview, "This isn't about more money, this is not about more scenes, it's not about any of those things. This is about a clear decision, an empowered decision in my life, to end one chapter and start another."

She confirmed to Variety last month, "I was never asked to be part of the reboot. I made my feelings clear after the possible third movie." Cattrall has not commented publicly about Parker's new interview.

NIXON ON LGBTQ MIRANDA Fellow "Sex and the City" franchise star Cynthia Nixon told Variety in an interview published Wednesday that she approved of showrunner Michael Patrick King having her character Miranda Hobbes, married to Steve Brady (David Eigenberg) in the new series, leave him to begin a lesbian romance with Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez).

"I was, like, 'Sure, why not!' " said Nixon, 56, an Emmy winner for her role on the original and who is gay herself. "If we're trying to do different stuff, and show different worlds, and show different aspects of these characters, why not do that?"

She added that although the character originally "was only really interested in men, I think that Miranda had many other queer and, frankly, lesbianic qualities about her." Moreover, "Miranda has always grappled with power, and female power versus male power, and women getting the short end of the stick — and that's a big issue for women who are queer. I think not having to be under a man's thumb has always been one of the very appealing things that being with another woman has to offer."