When it was announced that Sex and The City would be making a return as And Just Like That earlier this year, it came as a disappointment – though little surprise – to learn that Kim Cattrall would not be reprising her role as the straight shooting, sexaholic PR executive, Samantha Jones. And now, it seems the show’s writers may have provided an explanation as to why – she died. 

A video uploaded to TikTok on August 4 shows a throng of extras – supposedly belonging to And Just Like That – dressed head-to-toe in ceremonial black outfits. “I was walking down the street in New York City and saw a huge crowd and realised they were filming for Sex And The City,” TikTok user Evan Kline narrates. “But everyone was wearing all black. Is it for Samantha’s funeral?”

The city of New York is often referred to as the ghostly protagonist of SATC, but this time around, it’s also its main source of spoilers. After all, the maiden series had not yet encountered camera phones, let alone social media. So, much like Lady Gaga in The House of Gucci, not a week has passed without paparazzi or iPhone shots leaking on social media, with fans scrambling to jigsaw together each piece of the puzzle.  

Up until now, Samantha Jones’ absence has been framed by the production as a natural distancing between Carrie, Miranda, and Charlotte. “They’re trying to tell an honest story about being a woman in her 50s in New York. So it should all feel somewhat organic, and the friends that you have when you’re 30, you may not have when you’re 50,” HBO chief content officer Casey Bloys said. “Just as in real life, people come into your life, people leave,” he said. “Friendships fade, and new friendships start. So I think it is all very indicative of the real stages, the actual stages of life.”

Of course, Cattrall is not the only SATC star missing from the production, costume designer Patricia Field will not be making a return, either – a decision which many fans have read to be ruinous. See the despair over Carrie’s alleged Forever 21 dress, for example. Mr Big, however, is set to return, alongside his ex-wife Natasha, Stanford, Steve, and the show’s first non-binary character Che Diaz.

Whilst Samantha survived breast cancer, and a fair few knocks to the headboard, Cattrall has been vocal about her total disinterest in reviving SATC, refusing to participate in a third movie in 2016. Then, in 2019, during an interview with The Guardian, the actor noted how she had “gone past the finish line with Samantha. It was a blessing in so many ways, but after the second movie I’d had enough”, she said, not long before uttering the, now infamous, refrain “I don’t want to be in a situation for even an hour where I’m not enjoying myself”. Perhaps the production has taken that sentiment a little too literally.