Sarah Jessica Parker, who has played Carrie Bradshaw in the “Sex and the City” franchise for the past twenty-seven years, has responded to viewers who love to hate-watch the series’ latest reboot, “And Just Like That.” After the series’ finale on Aug. 14, Carrie told the New York Times that she doesn’t pay the haters much thought.
“I don’t think I have the constitution to have spent a lot of time thinking about that,” she said. “We always worked incredibly hard to tell stories that were interesting or real. I guess I don’t really care. And the reason I don’t care is because it has been so enormously successful, and the connections it has made with audiences have been very meaningful.”
Created by Darren Starr, “Sex and the City” debuted in 1998 on HBO and became a trailblazing phenomenon. Starring Parker alongside Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon as a quartet of gossipy New York City friends, the show garnered over fifty Primetime Emmy Nominations across its six seasons. It also spawned two feature films and a CW prequel series based on Parker’s character before “And Just Like That” reunited the original cast (sans Cattrall) in 2023.
“And Just Like That” became HBO Max’s most-watched series debut upon release; however, it met ambivalent critical responses and subsequent seasons saw diminished viewership. Despite the original series’ popularity, audiences scrutinized the reboot for retreading tired, outdated themes while making hollow attempts at updated cultural relevance. Some viewers even took to hate-watching the show, tuning in every week just to gawk at the latest episodes’ cringeworthy moments.
Just two weeks ahead of the Season 3 finale, HBO announced that the series would wrap and not return for a fourth season. The finale, “Party of One,” sees Parker’s Carrie exit the show as a single and independent woman. Despite much of Carrie’s arc following her complicated relationships, break-ups and affairs, she ends up “on her own.” The controversial sendoff met ire from some fans, who saw it as unsatisfying or unbefitting of Carrie’s journey.
Parker, however, feels good about the ending. When the Times asked her if she liked the decision to end with Carrie on her own, she responded, “Absolutely,” and “I feel good about her. I think she’s set up pretty well.”
Regarding the haters, Carrie conceded to People that “I think you’re going to perhaps read things or hear things that don’t always feel great.” She added, “When you’re part of a community, people are going to have a lot of feelings. And it doesn’t mean that a feeling can’t change, it’s a reaction. We want very much for people to have all those feelings, and it’s not for us to police or try to correct them.”
All episodes of “Sex and the City” and “And Just Like That” are available to stream on HBO Max.
