Drew Barrymore made a surprising — and solid — defense for one of Carrie Bradshaw’s exes while filming her appearance on And Just Like That.
In a now-infamous season 6 episode of Sex and the City, which aired back in 2003, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) is broken up with via Post-It note from then-boyfriend Jack Berger (Ron Livingston). The message, which is left on her pillowcase, reads, “I’m sorry. I can’t. Don’t hate me.”
The short and sweet way of calling it quits instantly made Berger one of the show’s most loathed former flames. However, when Barrymore, 48, arrived on the set of the SATC spinoff for a cameo nearly 25 years later, she made an argument as to why Berger maybe had it right all along.
During the Thursday, July 27, episode of the “And Just Like That … The Writer’s Room” podcast, showrunner Michael Patrick King revealed that Barrymore, who played herself on the July 27 episode of the Max series, stepped on set and immediately asked, “Can I just say one thing?”
“Everybody looked at her and she said, ‘Maybe Berger had it right. If you’re gonna break up with someone, just say, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t. Don’t hate me. Don’t drag them through weeks of indecision,’” he recalled. “She was like, “I just want to say, as painful as it was, maybe Berger was an emoji.'”
King — who called Barrymore “so much fun” and a SATC franchise “superfan” — noted that the talk show host even went as far to suggest there should be a Post-It emoji quoting Berger “that people could just send” when they want to split from their partner — but don’t want to drag out the process or ghost.
While Berger’s actions may still be up for debate, he isn’t the only man from Carrie’s past that’s part of the conversation. John Corbett reprised his SATC character, Aidan Shaw, during the July 27 episode of AJLT — and wasted no time asking his former fiancée out on a date for Valentine’s Day.
Carrie and Aidan first got together in season 3 of SATC before she cheated on him with Mr. Big (Chris Noth). Although they rekindled their romance the following season, they later called off their engagement due to Carrie’s apprehension about marriage. While Aidan has made brief cameos in the franchise since, the pair’s recent rendezvous marks his first real return to Carrie’s life — and seemingly indicates he’ll be sticking around.
“I didn’t bring Aidan back to fail,” King quipped while discussing Aidan with The New York Times in June, teasing that the onscreen couple could be endgame when the season wraps.
On Thursday’s podcast episode, King expanded further on his decision to bring the character back — and shared his hopes of telling the twosome’s story from a fresh perspective.
“We have tricks up our sleeves as to how he is new and what we can actually do with his story line, considering — and it’s a very big consider — all the water under the bridge, all the pain they’ve already been through and how hard Carrie has hurt him in the past,” he said, adding, “And how badly he took the breakup.”
