One of the biggest stories of the year was “what the hell happened between Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood while they filmed The White Lotus?” They were incredibly close during the production, frequently posting photos together on social media, then they abruptly unfollowed each other and didn’t promote TWL together whatsoever. There were other stories in April which indicated that they had a falling out, like Walton not defending Aimee when she spoke out about SNL’s sexism and mockery of her teeth. Well, Walton and Aimee understood that their relationship/beef had become the story, so they agreed to this: a Variety cover story in which they sat down together and cried and explained how they’re besties for life. Whoever masterminded this is a genius. It’s an absolutely brilliant way to shut down months of speculation and rumors. You can read the full Variety piece here. Some highlights:

Aimee on how they were introduced: “He said, ‘I’m Scorpio,’ and I said, ‘I’m Scorpio moon.’ And then we both didn’t know what to say after that. ‘See you in Thailand!’”

They bonded quickly in Thailand: “I think we were there for a day or two without meeting because I was so f==king in my head alone,” Goggins says. Then he texted her to come over for lunch. She remembers, “I didn’t know what to order. I was like, ‘Can you pick for me?’ I was so nervous.” Goggins was nervous, too. “The minute she walked around the corner, I felt, ‘This is gonna work,’” he says. “Two minutes into the conversation, it felt like I’ve known this person for 100 years.”

He was working on ‘Fallout’ while ‘TWL’ aired, that’s why they didn’t see each other: “I probably wouldn’t have gone anyways,” he says at first. But within 15 minutes of discussing the finale, both are tearing up and he admits to Wood, “I wish I would have been able to watch this with you. It was so cathartic and so painful, and I regret that. I really do.”

When they saw each other for the Variety shoot: Visibly emotional seeing each other, the two embraced for 30 seconds as the Variety team suddenly felt we were intruding on a private moment. The laughter then began almost immediately, and their photo shoot transitioned into a dance party. After, they asked to step outside for a quick break. “We were saying outside, ‘We can’t start crying!’ We’re the two most emotional, sensitive people!” Wood says with a laugh. But there’s a reason for the emotion.

Aimee on Walton doing SNL after the mean & sexist parody: “I was so upset when people [said that]. For f–k’s sake, of course Walton should do ‘SNL.’ That’s got nothing to do with me. He’s f–king had a career for, like, how long?” Without missing a beat, Goggins responds, “70 years.” Wood continues, commenting on the sketch show: “I said it, and then the next minute, [lowers her voice,] ‘Aimee caught crying over ‘SNL’ skit.’ I was not crying over the ‘SNL’ skit. I was over it the minute I said it. This is an important moment for me, because what I would usually do is see it and turn the anger inward. I thought, I’m just gonna say it, so I don’t spiral.”

Walton says there’s no feud: “There is no feud. I adore, I love this woman madly, and she is so important to me,” he says, getting choked up. Goggins turns to look at Wood. “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. I’ll be on an island, I think Greece. But she’s special. There is no feud. She is love and I know that I am that to her. We care about each other very deeply.”

Aimee on the Instagram unfollowing: “I think it’s such a comment on where we’re at culturally. Why is everyone obsessing over Instagram? That is irrelevant. We don’t give a shite about Instagram. Why not have conversations about the story and Rick and Chelsea and enjoy it?”

Goggins on the unfollowing: “If I may add, just to put this to bed? The following or unfollowing. I’m a grown-ass man.” Long story short, Goggins isn’t good with goodbyes. “When I left ‘Justified,’ I went up to Tim [Olyphant], and I hugged him and I said, ‘I love you, and I hope I see you in rooms for the rest of my life.’ I didn’t talk to him for almost two years. I’ve done that with every single thing that I’ve done.”

Being in Thailand was different for Walton: In 2004, his wife died by suicide. He spent the next three years traveling and searching for peace. It led him to Thailand, then to Bangkok. When he arrived in Bangkok on set, he realized he was in the exact same place. “My catharsis in this experience was different than other people’s, because of my history in this place. I knew what we had gone through, and I knew how close that we had gotten, and I needed to begin to process saying goodbye to Rick and Chelsea,” Goggins says, beginning to cry. “And I knew that that was going to take a while for me, so I let her know, this is what I’ve gotta do. And she was extremely supportive about that.” After filming ended, “I needed to just back away from everyone,” he says. “I haven’t spoken to anyone. I couldn’t handle it. Judge me or don’t. I don’t give a f–k what you think. This is my process. Rick means everything to me, and Chelsea means everything to me. And so that’s what I needed to do for me to process all of this.”

[From Variety]

I didn’t know that about his relationship with Olyphant, that they didn’t talk to each other for two years after Justified. Damn, Walton really IS bad at goodbyes. And that really does explain the Instagram unfollowing and the awkwardness around them during TWL’s run and promotion. Anyway, he and Aimee told each other “I love you” about a million times in this piece and they cried together and it was all very sweet. I’m happy they did this and cleared the air. They gave this to the fans as well – people were starting to feel weird about them, but now we have the confirmation that they really do love each other and it was all real.

Photos courtesy of HBO/Avalon Red, cover courtesy of Variety.