New Sex and the City feud

[Brian Damage]

April 30, 2007 -- AFTER 13 years of friendship and huge success from their partnership on "Sex and the City," former best buds Darren Star and Candace Bushnell are not speaking, according to insiders.

Star, the producer of "Sex and the City" as well as '90s hits "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Melrose Place," was approached by Bushnell in 2005 to turn her novel "Lipstick Jungle" into another hit television series.

Sources said Bushnell very much wanted to work with Star on the project for NBC, but her agents couldn't come to an agreement with him. Because Star couldn't come to terms with her over "Jungle," he re- created his own version of Bushnell's pilot, "Cashmere Mafia," and sold it to ABC. Pilots for both shows could be picked up next month for the networks' fall schedules.

"Candace was actually living at Darren's house when she was writing the pilot for her show," said our source. "Candace called him to say how happy she was that NBC picked up her script, and Darren told her, 'Oh, yeah, I have a similar project at ABC.' She was devastated."

While Bushnell's novel focuses on three high-powered New York women who struggle to balance their careers and families, "Cashmere Mafia" features four "successful female executives who have been friends since college turn[ing] to each other for guidance as they struggle with their careers and family."

"Candace is very hurt and upset by Darren's betrayal," the source told Page Six. "She was really shocked. He was one of her best friends."

But a friend of Star said, "There's no truth to the rumor of a feud between Bushnell and Star, and Star visited the set of 'Lipstick Jungle' earlier this month to give Candace a big kiss and wish her luck."

Bushnell declined to say anything negative about Star, even though she made only $1 million from "Sex and the City," a pittance compared to Star's earnings from the HBO series.

"I am very excited about the pilot for 'Lipstick Jungle,' and very proud of the project," the slinky author told Page Six.

[TJL]

Darren Starr sounds like a real winner.

I can't wait to watch both pilots this Fall to see which one sucks more!