Christopher Jackson Reacts to ‘And Just Like That…’ Backlash (Exclusive)

Christopher Jackson isn’t paying the And Just Like That… series finale backlash any attention.

Speaking exclusively to PEOPLE at Yankee Stadium’s Hamilton Night on Monday, Aug. 25, nearly two weeks after the episode aired, the 49-year-old actor admits, “I don’t really have an opinion on it.”

“An artist’s job isn’t to control an audience or tell an audience what to think,” he explains. “An artist’s job is to make something and then the audience gets to talk about what we made, and hopefully it inspires thought and new ideas and criticism can be good, but you can’t control any of that stuff.”

Jackson adds that “you make the thing and hope a lot of people get something out of it.”

The Tony-nominated actor says he’s “just filled with gratitude” for being a part of the show.

“What an amazing experience to be a part of a show that iconic,” he gushes of the Sex and the City revival series, on which he played Herbert Wexley opposite Nicole Ari Parker’s Lisa Todd Wexley.

“It was so much fun,” he continues. “I learned so much and now I have just a whole cast full of new friends and folks that I’ve gotten to collaborate with and hope to work with together.”

The And Just Like That… series finale saw happy endings for the entire cast of characters — although not all of them were in relationships.

After losing the election for New York City comptroller earlier in season 3, Herbert had fallen into a bit of a funk and felt dejected. The show ended with him and LTW reaffirming their relationship and emerging stronger than ever.

Fellow newcomer Seema Patel (Sarita Choudhury) was embracing a newfound romance with Adam (Logan Marshall-Green), while mainstays Miranda Hobbes (Cynthia Nixon) found love with girlfriend Joy (Dolly Wells) and Charlotte York Goldenblatt (Kristin Davis) weathered husband Harry’s (Evan Handler) health scare. Even Anthony Marentino (Mario Cantone) got engaged to Giuseppe (Sebastiano Pigazzi).

In the end, only Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) was left solo. However, as the TV heroine wrote in the epilogue of her book, “The woman realized she was not alone — she was on her own.”

The series finale sparked backlash from fans — but not for reasons you might expect.

One of the biggest sticking points for viewers was that Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte didn’t share a single scene as the main trio from Sex and the City, minus Kim Cattrall’s Samantha Jones, of course.

The more unexpected takeaway was the show’s graphic depiction of an overflowing toilet as the climax of the episode, which was set on Thanksgiving Day.

Since the episode aired, the show’s creatives have weighed in on the series finale’s backlash.

Showrunner Michael Patrick King defended the toilet scene in various interviews.

“We cannot take ourselves too seriously,” he told Variety. “For the gorgeousness of Carrie’s pink, sparkly top and tulle skirt — that’s the high — the low is a toilet filled up with s—. Because guess what? Being single, there’s a lot of s—, and relationships are a lot of s—.”

He echoed that sentiment to Deadline, noting that both Sex and the City and And Just Like That… have “always dealt with a lot of relationship s—,” and that this scene “was a manifestation of how s— backs up and you have to deal with it.”

Two writers also chimed in, with one calling it “extra poignant” that Carrie ends up single and another saying the central trio didn’t need to have a scene together because their bonds are “stronger than anything” and “they’re there even when they’re not there.”

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And Just Like That… is streaming in full on HBO Max. Additionally, Sex and the City and its two film installments can also be viewed on the streamer.