NEW YORK • The rebuff was brutally blunt.

In an Instagram post, actress Kim Cattrall wrote: "You are not my friend. So I'm writing to tell you one last time to stop exploiting our tragedy to restore your 'nice girl' persona."

The target of her ire last Saturday? Her former castmate in Sex And The City - Sarah Jessica Parker - who had expressed her support for Cattrall, 61, after her brother had gone missing last week and was eventually found dead.

The brush-off adds weight to the many reports of behind-the-scenes friction between the duo.

When the TV series began in 1998, Parker, now 52, was already friends with Cynthia Nixon, who played one of her three "best friends" as they bounced through their Manhattan adventures. She later became close to the fourth star, Kristin Davis.

Relations with Cattrall were another matter. There were reports, regularly denied by Cattrall, that she was holding up plans for a second sequel to the original movie version of Sex And The City (2008).

Now, the dispute with Parker is in the open, with Cattrall posting last Saturday: "I don't need your love or support at this tragic time. My mum 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."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE