This week, the entertainment realm has been dominated by two names: Kim Cattrall and Sarah Jessica Parker.
Because if there’s one thing celeb watchers love more than a Hollywood breakup, it’s a “cat fight”.
So when Cattrall, 61, suddenly unloaded on her former Sex And The City co-star, calling her “cruel” and accusing her of trying to restore her “‘nice girl’ persona”, the gossip sites gobbled it up.
Cattrall, who is grieving the death of her younger brother, was livid after receiving condolences from Parker, 52.
“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,” she wrote on Instagram.
Such public disparaging from a celebrity is breathtakingly rare. So of course, this is an incident worthy of covering. But it’s the way it’s been covered that is so tiresome.
Just like clockwork, that sexist trope came trotting out: "Claws out". Thrusting, yet again, that idea that professional women are hysterical and bitchy and scheming and cliquey. Haven’t you heard? Being ‘difficult’ is in our nature! We have hormones! Periods!
For years now, Parker and Cattrall’s fractured relationship has been splashed all over the tabloids. (More on that here.)
And there is something troubling about the incessant fascination with female "feuds".
Listen: We unpack the obsession with the SJP and Kim Cattrall clash. Post continues below.
Just about every week there are articles about high-profile working women supposedly at each other's throats. Recent examples include The Project's Lisa Wilkinson and Carrie Bickmore, and Studio 10's Ita Buttrose and Denise Drysdale.
We hardly ever hear stories about male co-stars fighting. We never hear them get asked leading questions like why they don’t go out for brunch on weekends or have playdates or buy each other birthday cupcakes. And it's not because the tension isn't happening.
Quite simply, society is drawn to the female feud narrative because girls who 'can't get along' puts women into neat, archaic categories: the good girl, the ball-buster, the diva.
But this is just a fantasy. Everybody - men and women - is capable of clashing with colleagues. It happens every day. Because you don't need to be besties with Kelly from accounts.
So we’d like to use this opportunity to remind you of some of the ‘feuds’ that got little to no attention. And they all have one thing in common. (Hint: it begins with 'm' and ends with 'n'.)
Selma Blair vs. Charlie Sheen
If anyone should be known for their "feuding", it's Charlie Sheen.
Sheen played Selma Blair's boyfriend in comedy show Anger Management, and there's no two ways around it: she hated his guts. Blair became irritated with his work ethic and when Sheen - who was also an executive producer - caught wind of it, he sent her an aggressive text calling her a "c**t". She was dismissed from the show in June 2013.
Four years later, he crassly referred to Blair and his former Two and a Half Men co-star Jenny McCarthy, saying he'd "like to mash those two together and then kick them to the curb. They deserve each other."
He also had a bizarre tussle with Two and a Half Men creator Chuck Lorre, labelling him a "stupid, stupid little man and a pussy punk".
Oh and his apparent inability to foster healthy working relationships goes as far back as 1987.
He reportedly taped a note to the back of his Wall Street colleague Sean Young that read "I am a c**t" (we're sensing a pattern with this word...). She was left to walk around for hours this way without realising.
So. I think we can go right ahead and crown this guy King of Feuds.
Channing Tatum vs. Alex Pettyfer
Money was the poison that ruined any chance of a friendship between the Magic Mike stars.
Alex Pettyfer confirmed rumours of his sour relationship with Channing Tatum during an interview on Bret East Ellis' podcast in 2015.
"Channing Tatum does not like me," Pettyfer said. "For many reasons. Many being my own fault."
Pettyfer said he forgot to pay rent on an apartment he was leasing from Tatum's friend after his cousin died.
"I all of a sudden got a very negative email from Channing, rightfully so, saying, 'Don't f*** my friends. You owe money. Pay the f***ing money. Don't be a clown.''
He said he felt he was suddenly being "hounded" and refused to pay the money. By the time he returned to the Magic Mike set for reshoots, the vibe was ugly.
"He had already told everyone he didn't like me," he said. "And what Channing says goes because he's a movie star."
Josh Hartnett vs. Harrison Ford
During the filming of 2003 movie Hollywood Homicide, in which Hartnett and Ford were partnered up in the lead roles as cops, things got so tense that they could barely look each other in the eye. Other times they would sit in awkward silence or trade insults. And this went on through to the promo tour, too.
"He's an intimidating guy. He tested me to the limit, so I hated him for a while," Hartnett said.
Ford would call Hartnett a "punk", while Hartnett would rebut with "old fart".
Very mature, guys.
James Franco vs. Tyrese Gibson
You might not remember the 2006 film Annapolis, but for James Franco and Tyrese Gibson it's as clear as day - helped by the fact the two co-stars were in a big ole squabble.
“I never want to work with him again, and I’m sure he feels the same way. It felt very personal. It was f***ed up,” Gibson told Playboy in 2007.
Franco later responded in an interview with Complex magazine.
“We’ve made up, or I tried to make up with him... I really had nothing personal against Tyrese, but I guess there were a lot of misunderstandings," Franco said.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ?
Same.
Bill Murray vs. Lucy Liu
There had been early whispers during the filming of 2000's Charlie's Angels that Murray and Liu were locking horns.
Years later, it was reported that Murray in fact got so irate, he abruptly stopped a scene to tell Liu she "can't act".
"What in the hell are you doing here? You can't act," he reportedly said.
So, uh, as you can imagine, Liu got quite upset.
Legend has it she blew up at him verbally and physically, until the two actors had to be separated.
When the sequel rolled around, Murray was replaced with Bernie Mac. Liu was invited back.
It's worth noting, this isn't the first spat Murray has had with a colleague. During the second season of Saturday Night Live, he and Chevy Chase got into an fully-fledged fistfight.
Make of that what you will.
Claire Danes vs. Leonardo DiCaprio
Claire Danes was only 16 during the shoot of Baz Luhrmann's 1996 film Romeo + Juliet, but she found Leonardo DiCaprio frustratingly immature. He was, by the way, six years her senior.
Danes reportedly hated the pranks he played on the cast and crew. And he found her "uptight".
Unless they were shooting scenes, the co-stars couldn't speak to one another.
Ironic, considering they were starring in one of the most famous love stories of all time.
Jamie Foxx vs. LL Cool J
There's not liking your colleague, and then there's loathing them so much the police need to get involved.
During the filming of Any Given Sunday in 1999, the fighting between LL Cool J and Jamie Foxx got so bad that the local cops were called to the set to break them up.
Will Smith vs. Janet Hubert
This right here is a stoush that began years before Sex And The City even hit our TV screens.
Janet Hubert had the role of Vivian Banks on the cult-classic The Fresh Prince of Bel Air for the show's first three seasons. In 1993, she called it quits. And it was... messy.
At the time, Smith made some scorching remarks. "I can say straight up that Janet Hubert wanted the show to be The Aunt Viv of Bel Air Show," he said.
In 2011, Hubert told TMZ she would never do a reunion because she would "never do anything with an a**hole like Will Smith".
She accused Smith of refusing to help her and her colleagues negotiate a pay rise with their bosses. Things apparently then became so tense, she left.
In a video shared in 2016, Hubert addressed Smith directly.
"I seem to remember at option time, coming to you and saying … 'With you, maybe we can get a little raise.' (We thought) your influence would help us greatly," she said.
Alas, it wasn't meant to be. And the bad blood only went on, and on, and on.
Chad Michael Murray vs. Sophia Bush
I apologise in advance for taking you into the gutter, but there was never a more appropriate time to use the phrase "don't s**t where you eat".
That five-word oft-quoted phrase people pull out to warn drunken colleagues not to hit on their cute co-worker at the Christmas party? Well Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush are the perfect example why.
The actors got married in 2005 after meeting on the set of One Tree Hill. Five months later, they separated... with still a looooong way to go as colleagues. Four years, to be precise.
The breakup was by no means a clean one. There were rumours Murray had cheated on Bush with Paris Hilton while filming House Of Wax.
And when Bush filed to annul the marriage on the basis of "fraud", she was knocked back. The couple had to settle for a divorce in 2006.
Bush has described that period of her life as 'traumatic' and in a 2014 interview with Andy Cohen, she was asked if she'd spoken to Murray.
"My mother once said to me that if you don't have anything nice to say, not to say anything at all."
Yikes.
Tom Hardy vs. Charlize Theron
If you weren't feeling the chemistry between Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron's characters in Mad Max: Fury Road, their shaky relationship could have something to do with it.
Actress Zoe Kravitz, who also appeared in the film, told Andy Cohen last year that the two lead actors "didn't get along".
"I just think it was like, they weren't vibing," Kravitz said.
Theron later drew on her beef with Hardy.
"Maybe the movie is what it is because we struggled so much with each other, and those characters had to struggle so much with each other. If we were chum-chum, maybe the movie would have been 10 times worse," she told the Wall Street Journal.
Who knew hating someone could be so helpful?
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