Walton Goggins breaks silence on Aimee Lou Wood feud rumours, tears up about wife's tragic death: ‘I love this woman madly'

Indian Express

a day ago

Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood, who played a romantic couple in the third season of HBO's White Lotus, addressed rumours of a fallout in an interview with Variety. The on-screen couple, once inseparable while playing Rick and Chelsea, had been at the centre of feud rumours ever since season 3 wrapped up. From the SNL parody to a quiet Instagram unfollow, the signs were all there. But the two are shutting it all down. They kicked things off with a 30-second hug, traded compliments, and then calmly said what needed to be said: 'There is no feud.'
Also read: Are Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood feuding after on-set romance gone wrong? White Lotus 3 controversy explained
'I adore, I love this woman madly, and she is so important to me,' Goggins said. With tears in his eyes, he continued, 'This is Goldie Hawn. This is Meg Ryan. She can do anything — and she will. You watch what the next 20 years of her experience will be… She is love, and I know I am that to her. We care about each other very deeply.'
During the conversation, Goggins explained that he always goes underground after completing an emotional task. This time, it was the show, and more than that, the backdrop, which was Thailand. He opened up about the most painful time in his life, when he spent months in the country back in 2004, after his wife died by suicide. So, returning to the same place years later for the shoot made everything feel heavier. After the wrap, he didn't speak to anyone. 'I couldn't handle it,' he says. 'Judge me or don't. This is my process.' Right there, during the interview, he picked up his phone and re-followed Aimee on Instagram. They laughed about how ridiculous things can get. 'It's just a part of me saying goodbye to this character,' he said. 'So now Aimee and I can be friends forever.' In return, she hugged him and said, 'I completely understand.' He went, 'I love you.'
About why the duo unfollowed each other, Wood explained, 'Why is everyone obsessing over Instagram? That is irrelevant. We don't give a shite about Instagram… Eventually I just started to sit back and watch these people making something out of absolutely nothing.'
Also read: White Lotus star Walton Goggins flaunts his newfound sex symbol status on SNL, jokes about his receding hairline
Earlier, a headline from Goggins' Times interview floated around, with the actor reportedly saying, 'Walton Goggins: Aimee Lou Wood? I'm not gonna have that conversation.' Goggins said the talk was taken completely out of context. He explained he refused to talk about her not because there's a feud, but because she wasn't there to speak for herself, and because one of the journalist's questions compared their teeth. 'It was disgusting,' he said. 'So appalling I ended the interview.' Goggins added, 'What he was insinuating, I was flabbergasted. And I said, 'Fu** mate, wow. I think we're done here.''
Aimee had earlier publicly criticised the Saturday Night Live sketch of White Lotus 3 that mocked her appearance, especially her teeth, a parody she thought was mean-spirited. For Goggins, he had no idea and claimed he'd innocently reposted it because Jon Hamm did an impression of him, he hadn't seen the full sketch and didn't realise how Aimee felt. When he saw her reaction, he deleted his post immediately. He felt awful.
Aimee said she didn't want anyone to think she was upset with Goggins for hosting SNL. She said, 'Of course Walton should host SNL! He's had a huge career!' She just didn't like how the sketch reduced her to a joke about her looks, not the comedy, but the tone felt off to her. 'It felt misogynistic,' she said, because the joke was about how she looked, not something she did.
'Then the next day, I made a vicious swipe against my friend. I've been posting for 14 fu*** years,' Goggins added. 'And if I'm gonna say something, but I'm gonna say it to your face,' he says. 'I don't use social media in any way, and I'm not a mean guy.'