All The Most Infamous Co-Star Feuds Through Film And TV History

Following the release of one of the most highly anticipated movies of the year, It Ends With Us—which fans and critics alike have been waiting for—a media frenzy surrounding the state of the cast has ensued, arguably drawing more attention to the cast's supposed feud than to the film itself. While it's difficult to determine what truly happened behind closed doors, statements from those close to the film, eyewitnesses who happened to be nearby during the filming of the movie, and awkward interviews from the main cast have helped the Internet piece the situation together. This affair, difficult to watch and equally hard to look away as it is, is most certainly not the first of its kind.

Since the dawn of the golden age of Hollywood all the way to the modern era of reality TV, co-stars who are meant to portray love interests or best friends on the screen somehow just can't stand each other. Sometimes, these disagreements, or true hatred in some cases, seep into the product itself, but in most cases, thanks to the undeniable talent of many of our favorite actors, you'd never know your two favorite characters actually can't stand one another. From Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton to Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall, the entertainment industry is rife with old feuds, both resolved and seemingly lifelong. Curious to see if your two favorite lead actors actually hated each other? Join L'OFFICIEL as we take a look at some of the most iconic co-star feuds in pop culture history, ranging from the infamous to the forgotten.

While Baldoni plays the film's male lead, he has also served as the movie's director. Because the film—based on the already controversial novel by Colleen Hoover—touches on sensitive themes, including domestic violence, Baldoni has been careful throughout the press tour when describing the nature of the movie, but fans have accused Lively of not treating it with the same gravity. At the movie's release, the Gossip Girl alum took to social media, where she shared a video on the movie's account in which she sat next to Hoover, and said: "It Ends with Us is in theaters now, so grab your friends, wear your florals, and head out to see it." Her statement, innocuous as it may seem, prompted fans to write that it seemed like she wasn't taking it seriously and that she was attempting to spin the film into the same sort of phenomenon that Barbie enjoyed.

In the wake of the press surrounding the two co-stars, Baldoni has reportedly hired a crisis PR team, but both parties have yet to speak publically on the alleged feud. 

Throughout the filming of The Notebook, one of the most iconic romance movies in Hollywood history, co-stars Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams reportedly hated one another. Difficult as it is to believe, given their on-screen chemistry and their later relationship, the two had a notoriously troubling connection on set.

In an interview with VH1, the film's director, Nick Cassavetes, revealed that the co-stars did not get along at all, and said: “Maybe I’m not supposed to tell this story, but they were really not getting along one day on set. Really not. And Ryan came to me, and there [are] 150 people standing in this big scene, and he says, ‘Nick come here.’ He’s doing a scene with Rachel and he says, ‘Would you take her out of here and bring in another actress to read off-camera with me?’ ‘I said, ‘What?’ He says, ‘I can’t. I can’t do it with her. I’m just not getting anything from this.’” He elaborated further and said: “They started screaming and yelling at each other. I walked out … And it got better after that, you know? They had it out … I think Ryan respected her for standing up for her character and Rachel was happy to get that out in the open,” Cassavetes continued. “The rest of the film wasn’t smooth sailing, but it was smoother sailing.”

Later, Cassavetes admitted that he regretted sharing the story, as he felt it painted both actors in an unfair light since they did eventually reconcile their differences. Although it's often forgotten these days since the two went on to date eventually, the Ryan Gosling-Rachel McAdams situation was one of the most infamous co-star feuds of the early 2000s. 

Although Carrie and Samantha couldn't have been closer friends in Sex And The City, their real-life counterparts haven't spoken in years. While they reportedly argued on set from time to time, the real tensions began when Sarah Jessica Parker—who plays the iconic Manolo Blahnik-wearing sex columnist Carrie Bradshaw—was given an executive producer title in Season 2, resulting in a significant pay raise. After learning this, Kim Cattrall—the actress known for her skillful, compelling portrayal of Samantha—petitioned for a pay raise but was ultimately denied, causing a rift between Cattrall and the other cast members as well.

This came to a head at the 2004 Emmy Awards, where Parker, Cynthia Nixon, and Kristin Davis were all seen sitting together, while Cattrall sat alone. Speaking to The Telegraph about the event, Cattrall said: "Are we the best of friends? No. We're professional actresses. We have our own separate lives." In the same article, Parker maintained that the group were friends, and said: "Honestly, we are all friends and I wish I saw more of Kim. She mentioned money and no one should vilify her for it. People made a decision that we had vilified her."

The same back and forth continued for nearly a decade, and at points the two agreed that they were friends, and other times, they seemed distant, but the feud came to a whole new level in 2018 when Cattrall's brother passed away. After Cattrall shared the sad news on social media, Parker commented a message in support, prompting Cattrall to respond with the following statement: "My Mom asked me today 'When will that @sarahjessicaparker, that hypocrite, leave you alone?' Your continuous reaching out is a painful reminder of how cruel you really were then and now. Let me make this VERY clear. (If I haven’t already) 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 in order to restore your ‘nice girl’ persona." Sex And The City was revived recently, with the HBO show And Just Like That... but Cattrall's absence was palpable among cast members and fans alike, proving perhaps the feud had been real all along. 

Among the most iconic feuds in pop culture history is the decades-long public battle between actresses Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. The fight began when Davis' first major film debuted in 1933, but at the same time, Crawford announced she was divorcing her then-husband. News of the divorce overshadowed the film, which was crucial in Davis' career, and so the resentment began. 

Just a few years later, Crawford married Franchot Tone, an actor Davis was also interested in. In a 1987 interview, Davis said: "I have never forgiven her for that, and never will. I fell in love with Franchot, professionally and privately. Everything about him reflected his elegance, from his name to his manners. She took him from me," she continued. "She did it coldly, deliberately, and with complete ruthlessness."

The two fought publically for decades, with subjects ranging from men to movie roles to each other's dresses, and their feud made history, prompting an eventual Ryan Murphy anthology series chronicling the iconic rivalry. 

Any good Gossip Girl fan knows that Serena Van Der Woodsen and Blair Waldorf had their ups and downs, ranging from what seemed like a bond of true sisterhood to seemingly irreconcilable differences, but as it turns out, Blake Lively and Leighton Meester contained the friendship to the screen. "Blake and Leighton were not friends.” said executive producer Joshua Safran in a 2017 interview with Vanity Fair. “They were friendly, but they were not friends like Serena and Blair.” 

Safran went on to explain that the two stayed away from each other on set, mostly due to personality differences and work habits, but fans were disappointed nonetheless. 

While Glee's Santana (Naya Rivera) and Rachel (Lea Michele) weren't always friends on-screen, it quickly became apparent after the show's wrap that most of the time, they weren't friends off-screen either.

"She had a hard time separating work from our outside friendship, whereas it was a lot easier for me… Lea was a lot more sensitive, though, and sometimes it seemed like she blamed me for anything and everything that went wrong," wrote Rivera in her 2016 memoir, Sorry Not Sorry.

Since Rivera spoke out, other cast members have issued statements in support of Rivera's claims, and shared their own experiences with Michele, and overall, essentially labeled her a diva.

Following Rivera's tragic death in 2020, her father spoke further about her relationship to Michele on set, and said in an interview on a documentary covering the show, titled The Price of Glee: "There was always a fight between them. Always. Everybody knew. Everybody saw it. They hated each other but, at the same time, respected each other’s talent."

While Scully and Mulder, played by Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny respectively, had a will-they-won't-they dynamic in the iconic '90s TV series The X Files, their real-life counterparts certainly did not enjoy the same experience. 

The two had notoriously difficult relations on set, which came to a head at the 1997 Golden Globe Awards during Anderson's acceptance speech for Best Actress in a Television Drama Series. Although she thanked cast members and crew, she notably left out Duchovny's name, prompting plenty of speculations from fans and media alike. In Duchovny's acceptance speech for the Best Actor in the same category, he thanked her, but once the camera showed Anderson's face, it was clear to the audience that she was beyond irritated with her co-star. 

Putting the fizzled-out feud to rest for good, in a 2024 interview with Wired, Anderson said: “I don’t know, who’s David Duchovny? Oh, yeah, no, I’m joking. Of course I know who David is. David Duchovny played Fox Mulder. I played Dana Scully, a series called The X Files… for about 6000 years. One of the coolest guys on television for a long time. People have always been interested in David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson getting together personally, privately, intimately, as they were interested in Mulder and Scully getting it together intimately. And not going to happen.”