Nicole Ari Parker says she's been 'attacked' over false belief she is 'replacing' Kim Cattrall on 'Sex and the City' spin-off
Nicole Ari Parker says that she’s received backlash from Sex and the City fans over her new character.
The Empire actress is one of the new characters appearing in the show’s spin-off And Just Like That, which is heading to HBO Max next year. However, Parker claims that some fans of the original series have expressed anger over the fact that Kim Cattrall, who portrayed core four member Samantha Jones on Sex and the City, won’t be returning.
"When it first came out that I was replacing the Samantha character — which is not true at all, so please write that — I have been yelled at, and I've also been attacked with love," Parker, who will be playing a documentarian and mom of three named Lisa on the upcoming mini-series, explained to People. "I've been photographed in places I should never be photographed. The fans are so excited and over the top. I had some idea of that because I am one of those fans but I had no idea [the extent of it]."
Cattrall made the decision not to return to the franchise years ago, when it was rumored that a third Sex and the City movie was on its way. In 2017, after The Daily Mail reported that she refused to do a third film unless Warner Bros., the studio behind the movies, produced her other work, Cattrall took to Twitter to deny the claim. She wrote at the time, “The only 'DEMAND' I ever made was that I didn't want to do a 3rd film....& that was back in 2016.”
Later that year, Cattrall told Piers Morgan, that there would never be another Sex and the City property with her involved.
“Not for me,” she explained. “That was part of turning 60. That was a very clear moment of, how many years do I have left and what do I want to do with it? What haven’t I done? I feel that the show was the best when it was the series and the bonus was the two movies.”
Though there has been reported tension between Cattrall and her former co-stars — and especially Sarah Jessica Parker, who the Ice Princess actress has criticized on social media in the past — SJP recently shared that there’s no bad blood between the actresses.
Following the And Just Like That revival announcement, Sarah Jessica responded to a follower on Instagram who claimed she and Cattrall “dislike” each other, writing, “I don’t dislike her. I’ve never said that. Never would. Samantha isn’t part of this story, but she will always be a part of us. No matter where we are or what we do.”
