‘And Just Like That’ abruptly ending after 3 seasons amid woke backlash, fan revolt— as SJP speaks out

That’s a wrap on wokeness.
The HBO Max series “And Just Like That” will abruptly end after three seasons, stars and writers said Friday — as critics insisted the show tanked because of its charmless and clumsy woke characters and plotlines.
Showrunner Michael Patrick King announced the “Sex and the City” reboot would call it quits with a two-part series later this month as lead actress Sarah Jessica Parker said Carrie Bradshaw was hanging up her Manolos for good.
“Carrie Bradshaw has dominated my professional heartbeat for 27 years. I think I have loved her most of all,” Parker, 60, wrote on Instagram Friday.
“She Crossed Streets Avenues Rubicons, so it seemed. She Broke hearts Heels Habits. She Loved Lost Won Tripped Leaped Fell short and into puddles Aged Got wiser,” Parker said of the character, whom she has played since 1998.
“[She made] the hardest, worst and best decisions, Traveled near and far For the new The vintage Friends and love. Changed homes, time zones, boyfriends, her mind, her shoes, her hair, but never her love and devotion to New York City. She had Dates Drinks Boyfriends A husband and truly great loves and romances,” Parker added.
King, meanwhile, insisted the show wasn’t canceled — saying he simply decided this was a good spot for the story to end.
“And just like that… the ongoing storytelling of the’ Sex And The City’ universe is coming to an end,” King wrote in a statement, posted on X, Friday.
“While I was writing the last episode of ‘And Just Like That…’ season 3, it became clear to me that this might be a wonderful place to stop.”
“SJP and I held off announcing the news until now because we didn’t want the word ‘final’ to overshadow the fun of watching the season,” he said, referring to Parker.
But ratings had been dwindling, with the Season 3 premiere averaging a paltry 429,000 households during the live-plus-three-day viewership window, according to Forbes.
The show has also faced backlash over flawed characters and storylines that critics said lacked the humor and charm of the original series.
They bashed the spin-off for its seemingly forced attempt to include more queer and racially diverse characters without making them believable or interesting in their own right.
The portrayal of Miranda as a late-in-life “lesbian” was lambasted for leaning too heavily on poorly developed stereotypes — while her non-binary love interest, Che Diaz, was dubbed one of the most “annoying” characters ever to appear on the tube.
“Che seems like they are a manifestation of… an irritating Twitter account come to life,” Texas writer Atif Riaz, 32, told The Post after the first season aired.
On their podcast, Che had a “woke moment” button that they pushed, which irritated many viewers.
“Che diaz single-handedly set back non-binary representation 70 years,” one critic seethed.
Another fan on Reddit called Che, “insufferably woke” and said, “Parts with Che in them are entirely unwatchable and cringey.”
Writers of the show eventually got rid of Che, played by Sara Ramirez of “Grey’s Anatomy” fame, and apparently tried to tighten meandering subplots — but they may have already lost fans, critics said.
“Some of the woke elements of the show, they got rid of, and I think I was a part of that,” comedian Bobby Lee, 53, who played the role of Jackie Nee in the first two seasons, said last month.
Others said the absence of Samantha, the sexpot public relations executive played by Kim Cattrall in “Sex in the City,” was problematic for the reboot, which follows Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte in their 50s.
The show also faced backlash for killing off Carrie’s longtime love, Mr. Big, played by Chris Noth, in the very first episode. He suffered a heart attack following a Peloton ride, after which angry fans flocked to X, formerly Twitter.
One fan wrote: “Me trying to process that Big died in the first ep of ‘Sex and the City’ reboot. Can Carrie never be happy or?? We literally went through 6 seasons and 2 films of pain, drama & happy endings now this?! I’mma pretend this show never existed for my own happiness.”
Big’s death prompted the brand’s stock to drop as it scrambled to recover after sexual assault allegations emerged against Noth just days after the Season 1 premiere.
Sources told Page Six the series was likely cut because — like Bradshaw’s clothing budget — its spending habits were too high.
A top TV pro speculated Friday that the series likely could no longer afford to be in Manhattan with high-paid cast members.
“[It] does good, not great, and it’s just too expensive with the actors, [creator] Michael Patrick King and [filming in] NYC,” the Hollywood veteran mused of why the plug was pulled.
When the series launched in 2021, Parker, Cynthia Nixon and Kristin Davis were all making $1 million per episode, or $10 million per season each, Variety reported at the time.
Warner Bros. Discovery said in June that it will split the company in two, with HBO filed into a Streaming & Studios division that will also house movie studio Warner Bros., while a Global Networks arm will get CNN, TBS, TNT, Discovery+ and other assets.
The show kept shedding characters, too. Karen Pittman, a new addition to the friend group in “And Just Like That,” left the show after Season 2. Her departure was due to “scheduling conflicts.”
Fans have also been quick to point out the sloppy writing. Season 3 had what appeared to be a major blunder, where the character Lisa’s father seemed to die twice.
The original show, which aired for six seasons, followed Bradshaw and her friends Jones (Cattrall), Miranda Hobbes (Nixon) and Charlotte York (Davis) through dating adventures in New York City.
The series also spawned two movies in 2008 and 2010, and a spinoff prequel, “The Carrie Diaries,” which aired on The CW from 2013 to 2014.