And just like that… Che Diaz has taken their final bow.
Sara Ramirez, who stars as the nonbinary stand-up comic on the Sex and the City sequel series And Just Like That, will not return to the Max drama.
Reps for Max declined to comment. EW reached out to Ramirez’s team for comment.
The news comes not too long after Ramirez released statements on social media calling the Hollywood industry “so duplicitous.”
“While they give awards away, casting directors and agents are making black lists of actors and workers who post anything in support of Palestinians and Gaza to ensure they will not work again,” Ramirez wrote on Instagram in January. “While they lift up some of their own clients who have spoken up against this genocide, they are firing and letting others who have smaller platforms go.”
Some of their fans seemed to think this was Ramirez signaling that they had been fired from And Just Like That, given the actor’s previous pro-Palestine social media posts. However, Variety reports the actor’s arc on the show reached a natural conclusion with Che’s breakup with Cynthia Nixon’s Miranda Hobbes.
Craig Blakenhorn/Max
Elsewhere, Ramirez, who uses they/them pronouns, had taken issue with the constant comparisons being made between them and their character. They previously spoke out about a press interview they gave to New York magazine’s The Cut, published in June 2023.
“I am not the fictional characters I have played, nor am I responsible for the things that are written for them to say,” Ramirez said in a statement shared on their Instagram page. “I am a human being, an artist, an actor. And we are living in a world that has become increasingly hostile toward anyone who dares to free themselves from the gender binary, or disrupt the mainstream.”
The character of Che Diaz has been at the center of much fan fervor when it comes to criticism of And Just Like That, even more so after the second season concluded. Longtime Sex and the City fans had a lot to say about how the totally fictional and not-at-all-real comic treated Nixon’s Miranda.
In an interview with EW conducted in May of this year, Ramirez seemed zen about the situation, having learned how to handle fan responses from their time playing Callie Torres on Grey’s Anatomy.
Craig Blakenhorn/HBO Max
“I think it’s inevitable that you’re gonna come across a little bit of it,” they said of the intense audience response. “But I can’t get wrapped up in that. It’s tempting for sure, but it doesn’t really serve my purpose as the actor telling this story. I think it’s really interesting to play a person who elicits such strong reactions and who can start much-needed conversations. If the storylines created major water-cooler moments after each episode, then we did our job.”
This is not the first time the series had to say goodbye to a main character, albeit under very different circumstances. Original lead actress Kim Cattrall declined to return for any type of Sex and the City sequel, so her character, PR maven Samantha Jones, was written as having moved to London amidst a falling out with Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw. (Cattrall made a shocking return to the role for a cameo in the season 2 finale.)
Willie Garson then died during the filming of And Just Like That season 1. The writers crafted an arc in which his character, Stanford Blatch, moved to Japan and became a Shinto monk.
And Just Like That has formally been renewed for a third season, which was announced ahead of the second season’s finale. The specific returning cast members had not been confirmed in the initial announcement. Showrunner Michael Patrick King said in a statement at the time, “We are thrilled to spend more time in the Sex and the City universe telling new stories about the lives of these relatable and aspirational characters played by these amazing actors. And Just Like That… here comes season 3.”
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content: