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‘Sex and the City’ reboot team slams John Corbett for incorrectly teasing Aidan’s return

Fans were dearly disappointed when Corbett didn't reprise his role as Aidan Shaw in "And Just Like That..."
/ Source: TODAY

Although Sarah Jessica Parker, Cynthia Nixon, Kristin Davis and more actors reprised their roles for the "Sex and the City" reboot — "And Just Like That..." — John Corbett wasn't one of them.

Before the series premiered on HBO Max in December 2021, Corbett told fans that he would indeed be returning to the series in April of that year. However, everyone learned that he wasn't a part of the show when "And Just Like That..." aired season one's final episode this past Thursday and Corbett wasn't in it.

Actors Sarah Jessica Parker and John Corbett act in a scene from the HBO television series "Sex and the City" third season, episode "No Ifs Ands Or Butts."
Sarah Jessica Parker and John Corbett in "Sex and the City."Getty Images / Getty Images

In a new interview with Deadline, "And Just Like That..." creator Michael Patrick King and executive producer Julie Rottenberg explained why Corbett — who played Carrie Bradshaw's ex-fiancé Aidan Shaw — wasn't in the show. Rottenberg said that Corbett should be apologizing profusely to fans for overpromising his return.

"John Corbett should be writing personal apology notes. We didn’t say anything," Rottenberg said.

Although King noted "there’s nothing old news about Sarah Jessica Parker and John Corbett as actors and beings and interests," he added that Aidan just simply didn't fit into the story that they were trying to tell in season one, especially since Carrie was learning how to grieve Big's death.

"The fact of the matter is, we never said anything about Aidan, just like we never said, Steve and Carrie or getting together," King said. "We always try to be very restrained and look at the reality of what people are experiencing and it has nothing to do with Aidan coming or not coming."

"It really just felt like this was a lot for Carrie," he continued. "This season was a lot. We wanted to get her through this and into the light."

"The last episode is called, 'Seeing the Light.' We wanted to get her out. (Aidan’s return) is a big storyline that everybody at home wrote that we had never intended," King added.

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Kristin Davis, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Cynthia Nixon on the set of "And Just Like That..." James Devaney / GC Images

In April 2021, Corbett told Page Six that he will be reprising his role as Aidan in "And Just Like That..." and would appear in "quite a few" episodes.

“I’m going to do the show,” he said at the time, adding that he's "very excited" to play Aidan again.

“I like all those people," he shared. "They’ve been very nice to me."

Although season two of "And Just Like That..." hasn't been confirmed as yet, Parker did tell Variety that she hopes the gang will come back together for another round.

“Michael and I spoke two weeks ago, and said: ‘OK, when are we going to talk about this?’" she said. "Because there’s a calendar and you don’t want to let too much time pass. There feels like there’s momentum.”