The Walton Goggins meme is the internet’s new go-to reaction for those moments when someone overshares—and you’re left stunned, processing what you just heard. Pulled from a scene in The White Lotus, the meme features Goggins’ character Rick Hatchett wearing a haunted expression that captures the feeling of hearing too much.
Whether used to show forced politeness or quiet horror, the meme nails the universal experience of pretending to listen while mentally screaming. Two different screenshots from the same scene are circulating, both conveying that specific kind of dread when you realize you’ve just learned something you’ll never be able to forget.
Meme basics:
- Meme Creator: @coneyisland131
- Meme Type: Reaction image
- First Appearance: March 16, 2025
- Origin Source: X
- Used to Convey: Shock and horror
What is the Walton Goggins meme?
The two White Lotus screenshots people most often use for this meme both show actor Walton Goggins in a shiny blue and gold shirt sitting at a table with wide eyes in an expression of shock or fear. In one, his mouth hangs open with his head tilted to the side as though he’s listening intently. In the other, his mouth is closed and he appears rather tense, like someone’s talking about how they’re going to kill him.
Across social media, users air their feelings of overwhelm with either image. For some, the information could be as low-stakes as instructions for a complicated board game. Others have used it to react to one of those wild, rambling posts that President Donald Trump hits us with every day.
Alternatively, users might post the image to show how they look while their coworkers or Uber drivers talk to them when they would much rather be left alone or to demonstrate their “active listening” skills.
Templates
Meme origins and spread
On March 16, 2025, HBO aired episode 5 of season 3 of The White Lotus, titled “Full-Moon Party.” In one scene, the character Rick meets with his friend Frank, played by Sam Rockwell. Frank tells a long story about how he traveled to Thailand to escape legal troubles. There, he fell into a cycle of alcohol abuse and casual sex, eventually turning to kathoey (commonly called “ladyboys” in English) and becoming one himself for a time.
Rick listens to all of this with facial expressions ripe for reaction memes.
On the same night the episode aired, X user @coneyisland131 submitted one of the first popular posts highlighting these expressions. One of them became the most popular of the shocked Walton Goggins memes The user jokes that the images represent “Everyone’s face watching the white lotus tonight.”
Less than an hour later, user @Tally__Drake created a meme post that would break one million views with the other common Walton Goggins image.
“If I send you this, it means I’m listening but I’m going to need a second to process this,” they wrote.
Over the next couple of days, the meme spread to Threads, Bluesky, and Reddit.
Behind the meme: Walton Goggins speaks on The White Lotus scene
After the episode aired and the Walton Goggins meme started taking off, the actor gave Vanity Fair his thought process behind his reaction during that scene. Rick’s monologue touched him deeply, reminding him of his own experiences of self-discovery in Southeast Asia, which explains the genuine quality of that haunted look on his face.
“I understood where this guy was in his life, and what he had encountered and what he’s bringing to this experience, and what he ultimately has to say about the human condition,” Goggins explained. “It was going to be very profound.”
When it came to filming Goggins’ reactions, they did seven or eight takes, trying something different each time but always with acceptance in mind.
“The only thing that I can say is that I had no judgment,” he said. “It took me a moment to wrap my head around this particular life experience, so it was like, ‘wow, wow, okay.’ But without judgment – I think that’s so beautiful about it.”
It doesn’t seem like those using the meme took his expressions to convey a lack of judgment, but the jokes are beautiful, so good enough.
Walton Goggins memes:
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