Aubrey Plaza’s ‘White Lotus’ Co-Star Jon Gries Explains Why She Seemed Upset At SAG Awards: “Why Would That Be A Problem If My Nipple Is Showing?”

As fans watched the SAG Awards on Sunday (Feb. 26) night, many speculated that something was up when White Lotus star Aubrey Plaza took to the stage to accept the award for Best Ensemble in a Drama Series with the rest of the cast. Plaza stood next to co-star Jon Gries, who at one point took her arm and whispered something to her. She immediately pulled away and adjusted her dress, looking serious as F. Murray Abraham gave his acceptance speech on behalf of the cast.

Today, Plaza-Gate can come to an end, because Gries has provided a full explanation about their interaction onstage, and we can rest easy knowing that Plaza was not mad about anything. In fact, she was “just being funny.”

Gries told Page Six that when he addressed Plaza onstage, he was encouraging her to be more visible so she wouldn’t be blocked by the rest of the cast. For most of the speech, Plaza was partially obscured as she stood behind co-star Michael Imperioli.

Gries states that she was “being blocked by about 15 people,” so he encouraged her to “look to the front.” He also told her that her dress needed some adjustment, saying, “You might want to fix that first.”

Gries said that throughout the whole thing, Plaza was “just being funny.”

At one point it looked like Plaza said “Jesus Christ,” which fans took as anger or irritation, but Gries said, “I think what she was intimating is, why would that be a problem if my nipple is showing?” he said. “That’s her humor — She has that dry, dead-pan wit; that’s her biting wit.”

Though Plaza hasn’t directly addressed the gossip about what happened onstage, she certainly didn’t seem mad in any of the photos she posted to her Instagram yesterday, which featured shots from the night with her co-stars, including Gries.

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The White Lotus Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming on HBO Max.