Loretta Devine has discussed working with Jennifer Love Hewitt on the short lived series, The Client List.
Devine, 75, said in an interview with People, published on Tuesday, February 18, that her experience with Hewitt, 45, was “mixed.” Devine detailed how she was troubled by the creative decisions of Hewitt, who served as an executive producer while also starring in the show.
“You know what? She decided to rewrite the entire angle of the show right in the middle,” Devine told the outlet.
The Client List, which premiered in 2021, centered on Riley Parks, played by Hewitt, a mother abandoned by her husband who accepts work at a day spa with X-rated extras called The Rub, run by Georgia Cummings, played by Devine.
Sarah Michelle Gellar Explains Awkward Jennifer Love Hewitt ‘IKWYDLS’ Remark
The Lifetime drama was canceled in 2013 after just two seasons, with reports at the time suggesting that the network “could not agree on a storyline for a third season,” per Entertainment Weekly.
The Client List also starred Cybill Shepherd, Rebecca Field and Colin Egglesfield.
This is not the first time Hewitt has been the subject of rumored on-set tension. On the ‘90s set of I Know What You Did Last Summer, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Hewitt were believed to have clashed.
Rumors at the time speculated that Gellar’s IKWYDLS character, Helen Shivers, was killed off at the hands of Hewitt, which Hewitt denied during a December 2024 episode of the “I’ve Never Said This Before With Tommy DiDario” podcast.
“I was 18. They were not taking script notes from me. All of us were in that experience together, you know, figuring it all out and everything. And I root for her and Freddie [Prinze Jr., who also starred in IKWYDLS],” Hewitt said, denying she ever obtained the power to fire Gellar, 47. (Gellar is married to Prinze Jr., 48, after meeting one another on the 1997 film’s set.)
While Gellar will not appear in the July 2025 reboot of IKWYDLS, Hewitt and Prince Jr. will return, while newbies Chase Sui Wonders, Madelyn Cline, Sarah Pidgeon, Tyriq Withers, Jonah Hauer-King, Lola Tung, Nicholas Alexander Chavez and Austin Nichols round out the new cast.
As for Devine, the actress was rather accomplished before stepping on set at The Client List. She starred alongside Whitney Houston in Waiting to Exhale in addition to portraying Lorrell Robinson in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls.
Devine also found success in her recurring role as Adele Webber on Grey’s Anatomy, winning an Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series in 2011, just prior to The Client List arriving on screens.
