Cynthia Nixon breaks her silence on Sara Ramirez’s ‘And Just Like That’ exit
And just like that, Miranda is talking.
Cynthia Nixon, 58, who played Miranda Hobbes on “Sex and the City” and its spinoff series, “And Just Like That,” is opening up about Miranda losing her on-screen paramour, Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez, 48).
In an interview with Variety published Thursday, Nixon said that both Ramírez and the series’ director Michael Patrick King “felt that that character had run its course.”
During the first two seasons of the show, Che – a queer nonbinary podcaster comedian – prompted Miranda to divorce Steve (David Eigenberg) while the two shared a steamy romance.
“They created such an amazing character — such a controversial character, but such an amazing character,” Nixon said about Ramirez.
Nixon added, “They came in and shook everything up, and then the arc was completed.”
Che Diaz wasn’t popular among fans when they debuted on the show in 2022.
One fan told The Post that he’s watched the show every week with his friends. Their major takeaway? “All of us had something to say about how annoying Che Diaz is in it.”
Another fan said that Che’s stand-up routine in the third episode of Season 1 was particularly painful to watch. “The entire routine felt like an AI generated monologue for a queer person.”
In the episode “Tragically Hip,” Miranda is helping Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) following a hip surgery, when Che visits, ringing the buzzer and proclaiming, “Hey, it’s Che Diaz.” Che and Miranda then have an intimate encounter in the kitchen – leaving a recovering Carrie to struggle when she needs help using the bathroom.
Ryan Bailey, a podcast host and fan of the show, told The Post that he was horrified.
“What did I just see?” he said of the hot-and-heavy sequence. “To have somebody [get intimate with] a character that we grew up with, in front of Carrie … is just so extreme. And that’s Carrie’s boss! There’s so many lines that are being crossed. It’s wild.”
“It’s Che Diaz” even spiraled into a meme, with many viewers on social media joking that it sounds like a threat.
Ramirez made it clear that they knew the character was unpopular.
“I’m very aware of the hate that exists online,” they told the New York Times.
“But I have to protect my own mental health and my own artistry. And that’s way more important to me because I’m a real human being.”
They continued, “In real life, there are a lot of different human beings who show up to the table, speaking truth to power in myriad ways. And they all land differently with different people. And Che Diaz has their own audience that they speak to who really get a kick out of what they’re doing.”
In February, Variety confirmed that Ramirez was officially out of the show after two seasons.
The exit news came amid speculation that the nonbinary actor was fired after their pro-Palestinian Instagram posts.
However, a source close to the production revealed to the Daily Mail that the highly divisive character had always been on the chopping block.
“Sara was not fired because they support Palestine and the cease-fire,” the source claimed to the outlet. “Sara was fired because Che brought nothing to the show anymore. After Che split with Miranda, the character really held no value anymore and fans found them annoying.”
Che and Miranda broke up in Season 2, but Che still appeared at a dinner as Carrie’s friend.
Nixon added, “I do feel like our show always works best when people are dating.”
Max has not yet announced a premiere date for Season 3.
