Walton Goggins praised Saturday Night Live‘s infamous White Lotus sketch that mocked costar Aimee Lou Wood’s appearance.
Goggins, 53, left a comment on SNL‘s Instagram account after the episode aired on Saturday, April 12, writing, “Hahahahahhahaha Amazzzingggg.” The actor shared the video on his Instagram Stories as well, according to Page Six, adding, “Smashing. Jon [Hamm]… I knew I was miscast.”
The sketch didn’t receive support from everyone involved with season 3 of The White Lotus. Specifically Wood, 31, whose character Chelsea was featured in the clip, wasn’t thrilled with how Sarah Sherman portrayed her with fake teeth.
“I did find the SNL thing mean and unfunny xo,” Wood wrote via her Instagram Story on Sunday, April 13, criticizing the show for punching down. “Such a shame cuz I had such a great time watching it a couple weeks ago. Yes, take the piss for sure — that’s what the show is about — but there must be a cleverer, more nuanced, less cheap way?”
The “White Potus” sketch featured Hamm as Goggins’ character Rick playing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “I’ve been having these insane ideas, like what if we took all the fluoride out of the drinking water? What would that do to people’s teeth?” Hamm asked Sherman in the sketch, who replied, “Fluoride? What’s that?”
Wood went on to call out Sherman’s accent, adding, “At least get the accent right, seriously. I respect accuracy even if it’s mean.” The actress has since clarified that she received an offscreen apology.
The White Lotus, which wrapped up its third season earlier this month, introduced Us to Chelsea and Rick’s unconventional love story. In addition to their age gap, Chelsea and Rick’s connection ended with both of them dying in the finale.
But it wasn’t the onscreen drama that fans were discussing. After Goggins and Wood’s costar Jason Isaacs hinted at tension on set, eagle-eyed followers noticed that Goggins and Wood were no longer following each other on social media.
Goggins and Wood haven’t addressed the feud rumors — and have continued to speak fondly of each other during interviews — but the speculation got so bad that Isaacs had to clarify what he meant about people being at odds.
“I told the truth, while we were there, it’s a whole community. It was a city and it wasn’t just the actors. People need to remember it was the actors and the crew and the administrators and all these people were in a little pressure cooker together. And like anywhere you go for the summer, there’s friendships, there’s romances, there’s arguments, there’s cliques that form and break and reform and stuff like that,” he shared on SiriusXM’s TODAY Show Radio series The Happy Hour in April. “I’m not stupid. I look at the internet. I only read every single word written about The White Lotus and about everybody in it.”
Isaacs specifically slammed the online theories from fans.
“All these amateur Sherlock Holmes out there, they’re extrapolating, ‘Well, one person posted this.’ And nobody has the slightest clue what they’re talking about. People who think they’re onto something, and then it gets magnified because of a thousand other people. Nobody has any clue what I’m talking about,” he continued. “I’m talking about people you’ve never met before half the time, in different departments and the people in the hair and costume and in the accounts department and stuff.”
Isaacs concluded: “First of all, it’s none of your business. I’m just saying it wasn’t a holiday. Partly I started saying that is because people think we were on a seven-month holiday and believe me, it felt like work a lot of the time. It was insanely hot and there’s all the normal social tensions you get anywhere, but for all of you thinking you’ve cracked it by something you think someone has posted or is in a photo or not, you’re just so far from the truth, believe me.”
