Michelle Monaghan wants us to know that the ‘monkeys did not do it’ on ‘The White Lotus’

(CNN) — “White Lotus” star Michelle Monaghan is addressing a wild theory that’s been floating around since the show’s Season 3 debut.

Monaghan – who plays actress Jaclyn Lemon on the popular HBO series – appeared on Wednesday night’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” and was asked by Kimmel if she’s been paying any attention to all of the online whodunnit theories regarding the dead body seen floating in the season’s opening scene.

“Oh my gosh, I haven’t,” she said, adding, “I just gotta debunk a theory out here, guys: The monkeys did not do it!”

She continued to say that “people have gone ape s— thinking that,” referring to the fervent speculation online that the native monkeys often seen in the background of several episodes are to blame for the mysterious death.

Monaghan’s character is a famous actress on vacation at the Thailand-based “White Lotus” resort with her two girlfriends, played by Leslie Bibb and Carrie Coon.

The trio, also known as the “big, blonde blob,” are seen throughout this season separately gossiping about each other, and things came to a head during last week’s episode, with Jaclyn at the center of the drama.

But, Monaghan said, she holds no judgement toward her character’s arguably poor decision making.

“The golden rule about actors – you’ll hear every actor talk about this, it’s such an actor thing – but you never judge your character, you never judge their actions,” Monaghan said.
“You get behind them, you’ve got to support them in one way or another.”

“The White Lotus” airs on Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO, with the episode available to stream on Max. (HBO and Max, like CNN, are properties of Warner Bros. Discovery.)

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