Why Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Love Hewitt Didn’t Take Photos Together at IKWYDLS Premiere

Gellar — who starred in the original flick — was on hand at the event with husband Freddie Prinze Jr., who also stars in the new film alongside Hewitt. While the couple posed for photos together and Gellar later snapped pics with former Buffy the Vampire Slayer costar Seth Green, fans were disappointed when she and Hewitt didn’t have a red carpet reunion of their own.

Then, on Wednesday, Gellar shared a carousel of photos from the premiere to Instagram — where, again, she wasn’t pictured with Hewitt and didn’t directly mention her in her caption.

“What a night!!! Still can’t believe …… years later (no need to date myself) I got to walk the red carpet at another premiere of @ikwydlsmovie Still starring the most handsome man I know @realfreddieprinze but this time directed by my best friend @jennkaytin and written by Jenn and @samlansky,” she captioned her post. “I love this movie sooooo much and this cast!!”

Almost immediately, her comments were flooded with questions like, “Where is J Love? 😢”, “I love you, but where’s Jennifer?” — as well as comments including, “I love you so dearly, but it makes me so sad there is ZERO recognition for Jennifer Lover Hewitt either” and speculation about “beef” between the two.

Minutes after her initial post, Gellar responded to fans wondering about Hewitt.

“For everyone asking – I never got to see @jenniferlovehewitt who is fantastic in the movie,” she clarified in a comment. “I was inside with my kids when the big carpet happened. And unfortunately JLH didn’t come to the after party.”

“If you have ever been to one of these it’s crazy. I sadly didn’t get pics with most of the cast,” she continued. “But that doesn’t change how amazing I think they all are. Unfortunately some things happen only in real life and not online.”

Gellar previously had to clear up online speculation about a feud between them, after her red carpet response to a question about Hewitt’s involvement in the new sequel went viral.

Speculation there was some beef brewing between the two scream queens blew up on social media back in December 2024, all because of a red carpet interview Gellar did with EXTRA while at the premiere of Dexter: Original Sin.

During the interview, she was asked about the upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel after Gellar shared a photo from the set.

While she won’t be returning for the new movie — as her character was killed off in one of the best horror movie chase sequences ever — Gellar visited the Australian set to support her husband, who is reprising his role from the original. She’s also close friends with the reboot’s director, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who Gellar worked with on the Netflix movie Do Revenge.

After praising Robinson and the movie’s “fun” script, Gellar was asked about Hewitt possibly returning as well. “I have nothing to do with that,” she responded, before starting to walk away from the reporter.

The video blew up on X, racking up more than 5 million views amid speculation on social media and in the YouTube comments that something went down between the two stars. As the chatter started to pick up some steam and outlets began reporting on it, Gellar took to her Instagram page to set some things straight.

First, she shared a DeuxMoi post to her Instagram Story, in which the pop culture account speculated Gellar was “hesitant to answer any questions about ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ after she got in trouble for posting a set photo!”

This appears to be the case, as Gellar said during a Live with Kelly and Mark appearance she got in trouble for sharing a photo of a director’s chair on the Australian set in November. “Then I found out that they hadn’t posted any pictures from the set yet — hadn’t announced they started filming. Yeah … that was an ‘Oops! My bad!'” she said on the morning show.

Addressing the interview on IG, Gellar added, “Aspiring actors please note: this deer in the headlights reaction is perfect for when you are excited to see so many old friends in one project but have already stupidly forgotten what NDA means once this month.”

She then followed up both posts by sharing the official announcement Hewitt was returning to the franchise — something which wasn’t confirmed until after the red carpet moment, though she clearly knew about.

Hewitt, meanwhile, addressed some gossip about her and Gellar during an interview with Tommy DiDario’s I’ve Never Said This Before podcast around the same time. Though it didn’t appear she was referencing Gellar’s red carpet moment, she did react to rumors that “Sarah and I were fighting,” seemingly back in the ’90s.

She said she even saw people speculate she “made sure” Gellar’s character was killed in the first movie “because girl actresses don’t like to work with girl actresses” — before saying she definitely didn’t have any power to dictate a character’s fate at the time.

“I root for her and Freddie. I think it’s the cutest thing in the world. They’ve been married for 100 years and have kids. It’s adorable,” she told DiDario. “It’s been really funny to see all of the stuff that people think.”

See Hewitt and Prinze Jr. back in action when I Know What You Did Last Summer hits theaters this weekend.