Murray Bartlett’s nose buried up Lukas Gage’s butt?!
Last Sunday, HBO Max released the fourth episode in its miniseries White Lotus. The show follows “the vacations of various hotel guests over the span of a week as they relax and rejuvenate in paradise. But with each passing day, a darker complexity emerges in these picture-perfect travelers, the hotel’s cheerful employees and the idyllic locale itself.”
The drama is packed with several stars like Steve Zahn, who had a full-frontal scene last month, Jennifer Coolidge, Jake Lacy, Connie Britton, Sydney Sweeney, and more. But, it’s Lukas Gage and Murray Bartlett that trended after the episode for acting out a rim job.
In the scene, we quickly see Bartlett on his knees pleasuring a standing Gage. A moment which you can watch here. And just as the view disappeared quickly, Twitter users quickly jumped to joke about it.
WHY DON'T PEOPLE LOCK DOOOORS?!?! #WhiteLotus pic.twitter.com/DpQwDcpfzj
— Sir Daniel | DJ & Female MC Historian (@DJSirDaniel) August 2, 2021
https://twitter.com/mrs_sherryg/status/1422019395149250568?s=20
That end scene!!! #whitelotus pic.twitter.com/sEQCN7QC7z
— Wilmer (@W1lmerSarmiento) August 2, 2021
it’s sick that white lotus is making us wait an entire week after this ending #whitelotus pic.twitter.com/GWFBE4z1QU
— ståcy (@quinonstace) August 2, 2021
ARMOND BE EATIN #whitelotus pic.twitter.com/r3Gd0eNu25
— lover girl ✨ (@Nevababe) August 2, 2021
This week's episode of #whitelotus 👀👀 pic.twitter.com/mQQFviirRY
— Jon (@Ninja_xHunter13) August 3, 2021
The two actors also joined the conversation both online and in interviews. One tweet referencing Gage’s earlier gig with the show Euphoria read, “Big congrats to Lukas Gage for going from having his ass beaten up in one HBO show to having his ass eaten up in a different HBO show.”
In response, Gage wrote, “I want this on my grave.”
i want this on my grave https://t.co/iSN3d1Wril
— lukas gage (@lukasgage) August 2, 2021
Lukas Gage also spoke to The A.V. Club about the scene saying that he couldn’t, “Wait for [his] a** to get retweeted all over the internet.”
“I expect to be surprised by [series creator] Mike White because he is such a brilliant writer, and I love that there’s a natural defiance in almost everything that he does,” Gage added. “There’s a sense of burning down the system in his writing, and I love that, in this moment, Armond kind of just says, ‘fuck it all!'”
Even better, Gage says that the rim job was his and Bartlett’s suggestion. He explains that the script only described his character and Bartlett’s character getting caught having sex. The two actors then suggested a rim job as the specific act.
I finally understand the title of #whitelotus after seeing @lukasgage get his ass eaten live on prime time television tonight pic.twitter.com/JkUFGd6mVC
— Dan Brierley (@danbrierley11) August 2, 2021
We said, ‘Wouldn’t it be more interesting if [Dillon’s] getting his salad tossed? I mean, how often do we see that on TV?’ I think it’s much more interesting and more jarring to walk in on.”
While “getting your salad tossed” isn’t common on tv shows, both actors are familiar with playing queer roles. Lukas Gage, who became internet famous last year after a casting director called his apartment “s**tty,” has appeared in a few LGBTQ projects like Love, Victor and Hulu’s gay horror film In the Dark: Midnight Kiss. Meanwhile, Murray Bartlett is openly gay and is remembered for his role in Tales of the City and HBO’s Looking.
Bartlett also commented on the scene’s shock value by saying it was both intimate and brilliant.
“I think the shock value of that for people who are not used to that kind of… configuration of intimacy, is really brilliant,” he told Digital Spy.
Though, not everyone was impressed with the scene.
who will let me write a 2000 word piece on the weak ass eating in white lotus last night pic.twitter.com/NGInfZpDps
— gabe bergado (@gabebergado) August 2, 2021
Him STANDING UP instead of bent over the desk… where is the realism
— Tom Zohar (@TomZohar) August 2, 2021
Can’t satisfy everyone.
Source: The A.V. Club, Digital Spy,
Folks getting upset about a simulated rim job probably gets upsets at simulated sex on TV. “No!!! That’s not how you do it! The pole goes in the hole!!! Ugh, this fictional TV show is so unrealistic! How can I trust it???”
I saw it. That was NOT a rim job. That was a “kiss my asscheeks” job. Move about 6 inches lower, and 4 inches deeper. Then you’ve got a rim job.
And just like that, everyone once again believes the bullshit they see on the fucking boob tube lol.
*gay prayers* “please let this actually be happening and there aren’t five cameras and two dozen other people in the room” pfft.
I’d love to feel that mustache on mine! Have loved Murray since Tales from the City. But also a reminder this ISN’T the 1st time we have seen a rim job on TV. The 1st Queer As Folk had Bryan rimming Justin pretty well. I remember going to work the next day and saying “I never thought I’d see a rim job on TV” 🙂