Kim Cattrall, 69, attended Jimmy Choo’s “Meet Me At The Bar” dinner in London on Monday night with her partner Russell Thomas, 54, marking a rare public outing for the actress and renewing attention on lingering tensions tied to the Sex and the City franchise.
Cattrall and Thomas arrived together and were photographed interacting closely at the event. The couple, who met in 2016 when Cattrall recorded an essay for BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour where Thomas was working, have been together since and have moved between New York, Canada and London. Cattrall has said the COVID-19 pandemic “locked them together” and called him “a bit of a rebel,” adding that “we’ve been together almost ten years now. And we’ve had a blast. We’ve just had so much fun.”
At the event, Cattrall wore a shimmering black dress and hoop earrings, while Thomas wore a green velvet suit and sky-blue shirt. The appearance followed Cattrall’s recent 69th birthday, when she posted an Instagram selfie holding a flute of champagne. A fan’s comment on that post praising Cattrall’s Sex and the City character Samantha Jones as having “carried the entire franchise” and disparaging the HBO Max spinoff And Just Like That drew Cattrall’s attention; she gave the comment a “like,” a small action that reignited public discussion about her long-running dispute with former co-star Sarah Jessica Parker.
Cattrall has long declined to return to the original series’ characters for the spinoff, appearing only briefly in a season-two cameo that was reportedly paid at $1 million. In And Just Like That, the series continued the stories of Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbes and Charlotte York, and drew divided responses from critics and viewers. The series’ third season concluded in recent weeks amid sharply negative reviews and falling viewership. Some viewers criticized the spinoff’s tone and narrative choices, while others defended the series’ attempts to update the characters and themes.
The public history between Cattrall and Parker has featured public tensions. Cattrall has at times said she and Parker are not friends, and the disagreement flared after Parker posted a condolence message following the death of Cattrall’s brother; Cattrall responded publicly that they were not close. Neither actress has sought to reconcile those comments in recent public statements.
Cattrall, an Emmy-nominated actress and Golden Globe winner, has been married three times: to Larry Davis (annulled), Andre J. Lyson (1982–1989) and Mark Levinson (1998–2004). Thomas, who was working at the BBC when the pair met, has been described by Cattrall in interviews as having had “an incredibly interesting life” and as someone who lives on his own terms.
The Jimmy Choo dinner also attracted other figures from fashion and entertainment, including actress Jessica Plummer and models who attended the brand’s London event. The evening offered a rare public moment for Cattrall and Thomas amid ongoing public interest in the legacy of Sex and the City and its spinoff.