Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood respond to feud rumours in emotional interview

So many of life’s greatest pop culture mysteries go unsolved.

But lucky White Lotus fans and Reddit sleuths finally have an answer to why actor Walton Goggins unfollowed his costar Aimee Lou Wood on Instagram after the finale aired.

Rick (Walton Goggins) and Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood) in The White Lotus.

During a new interview with Variety, the pair addressed the controversy together, with Goggins declaring “there is no feud”.

“I adore, I love this woman madly, and she is so important to me,” he said. “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 that I am that to her. We care about each other very deeply.”

Wood said the storm of headlines around them was 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,” she said. “Why not have conversations about the story and Rick and Chelsea and enjoy it?”

To reiterate the point, the outlet reported that Goggins stood, retrieved his phone and re-followed Wood on the spot.

During the joint interview, the pair also “embraced for 30 seconds” and repeatedly held hands and exchanged compliments.

So what was the reason behind the unfollowing?

Goggins confirmed he liked to do firm goodbyes when projects conclude. In a previous interview with this masthead, Goggins conceded his character Rick was the hardest to shake.

“When I left Justified … I didn’t talk to [Timothy Olyphant] for almost two years,” he said. “I’ve done that with every single thing that I’ve done.”

Goggins also opened up about his return to Thailand – the filming location for season 3 of The White Lotus. The actor visited the country while grieving his first wife Leanne Knight’s 2004 death.

“My catharsis in this experience was different than other people’s, because of my history in this place,” he said.

“I knew what [Wood and I] 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. 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.”

If you’re a little behind on your White Lotus lore, don’t worry. We’ve broken down the timeline of the non-feud below.

Why did people think the pair were feuding?

Let’s rewind to the White Lotus finale. Online sleuths noticed Wood and Goggins – who played doomed lovers Chelsea and Rick – did not follow each other on Instagram despite following other major cast members.

Co-star Jason Isaacs – who played the pill-popping Tim Radcliffe – fanned the flames by alluding to tension on set, telling The Guardian: “There were alliances that formed and broke, romances that formed and broke, friendships that formed and broke”.

Here’s where things get more puzzling.

Goggins and Wood continued to share their experience together but not tagging each other in posts. Goggins – who is married – posted a carousel with 11 photos of the on-screen lovers filming and hanging out behind the scenes.

Why was SNL involved?

In April, Wood condemned a Saturday Night Live White POTUS satirical sketch for its “mean and unfunny” portrayal of her famous smile.

The skit featured comedian Sarah Sherman sporting oversized prosthetic teeth to mimic the British actor.

Sarah Sherman and Aimee Lou Wood.

Goggins, who was also depicted, described the skit as “amazing” in a now-deleted post on the SNL Instagram page.

Then things got more messy.

In May, Goggins interview with The Times of London went viral after his publicist shut down a journalist’s repeated questions around a feud with Wood.

“There is no conversation to be had about that,” Goggins bit back and then abruptly ended the interview.

Fast-forward to the 2025 Met Gala, both Wood and Goggins attended, however they were not pictured together.

Still with us? Good.

In the Variety interview, Goggins addressed the SNL confusion and said he was half-asleep when he saw the SNL sketch and wanted to compliment Jon Hamm’s impression of him.

By the end of the Variety interview, Goggins had re-followed Wood on Instagram and declared they would be “friends forever”.

As far as pop culture conspiracies go. That’s a fairly neat ending.

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