It all started last week, when Sarah Michelle Gellar (aka Queen Helen Shivers) said she never actually talked to Jennifer Love Hewitt at the I Know What You Did Last Summer premiere despite starring in it together and walking the red carpet at different times.
“For everyone asking—I never got to see @jenniferlovehewitt, who is fantastic in the movie,” Gellar wrote in a comment on Instagram, responding to a fan. “I was inside with my kids when the big carpet happened. And unfortunately JLH didn’t come to the after party.”
She continued: “If you have ever been to one of these it’s crazy. I sadly didn’t get pics with most of the cast. But that doesn’t change how amazing I think they all are. Unfortunately some things happen only in real life and not online.” Anyone else thinking this might be a case of protesting too much?
Two days later, Hewitt spoke to Vulture and addressed allegations that she’s been feuding with Gellar for decades. “I haven’t seen Sarah,” she told the publication. “Literally, we’ve not talked since I saw her at 18 years old when the first movie came out.” Now, Hewitt and Gellar have been working steadily since then. Hewitt starred in multiple television series, like The Ghost Whisperer, as did Gellar, obviously. I mean, it’s Buffy. While neither really held onto their previous A-list status, surely they’ve crossed paths at an event in the last two decades and change? There hasn’t even been a text exchange? An email? A superficial comment on Instagram? Come on.
“On my side, we’re good,” Hewitt claimed. “I have no idea where this is coming from.” It gets weirder.
This week, Freddie Prinze Jr., Gellar’s husband and Hewitt’s co-star, was profiled by Men’s Health. He, too, was asked about his relationship to Hewitt.
“Sometimes you go to work with people and you don’t have a ton in common with them,” Prinze told the publication. “We were always cool and we would crack jokes and talk on set, but we never were like, ‘Hey, let’s trade numbers and go on a hike.'” OK…
“We were always professional and cool with each other, but we just weren’t bros,” he continued. “I don’t have her phone number, so it’s not like we were talking like, ‘Hey, what do you want to do with these characters? What do you think?’ ‘I don’t know. What do you think?’ ‘I’m nervous, I’m scared, I’m excited.’ None of that stuff happened, but I figured she would be on board when I heard the idea.”
Two colleagues who’ve shot not one but two movies together—in which they play a couple, mind you—don’t have each other’s phone number??? Methinks something happened 28 summers ago and no one wants to fess up. Back then, though, the rumor was that Hewitt got Gellar axed from the franchise because they weren’t getting along on set. However, Hewitt put an end to those accusations in 2024 during a podcast appearance.
“I was 18. They were not taking script notes from me, guys,” Hewitt said, noting that she was “totally” friends with Gellar back in the day. However, if they were friends, doesn’t that make not remaining in contact with one another for nearly 30 years even weirder?
My working theory: Gellar and Prinze very notably met on the set of the first I Know What You Did Last Summer. However, they didn’t actually begin dating until years later. Perhaps Prinze and Hewitt had a thing on set first, and things got weird after he and Gellar began dating in the early aughts? Reductive? Yes. A million other things could’ve happened here, including the simplest explanation: people—even colleagues and friends—just grow apart. But this is Hollywood, after all.
If you or someone you know has information that would confirm what went down 28 summers ago, my inbox is open. Ryan Phillippe, I’m looking at you.
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