Will Kulp
Appearances
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
No, I mean, I think the time and the place was inappropriate of me. And, you know, I'm just willing to fall on my sword. Like what I did was not right. I should have gone to Emmy about it. Going in and trying to confront these people isn't really, to me, like the point of this all. I think the point of it was just to learn from this, to figure out how to communicate better in my own relationship.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And like going for vengeance or trying to hold someone accountable for lying. Maybe get a therapist. Yeah, it doesn't make my relationship with Emmy. I don't mean to pick a fight, but just more like, yo, like. you know, my, my number one priority is in relationship with Emmy. So, and, and these people, you know, this was never an issue until the cameras came out.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And I was like, one of those things where it was like, where was this?
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Well, some people also decided that they were going to save it for the cameras and they wouldn't have conversations with us. They wouldn't hang out with us.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
It was my mistake to not think this would ever come onto the TV show because it was just naive of me. And in seasons past, I think the producers were very clear that like, if it doesn't happen when we're rolling, we're not really too concerned about it.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah. So just stupid of me to think that we weren't going to have to litigate this four months later.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
You'll never talk to her behind her back again, man. You really had to not, not due to any TV show. I think the idea is that I learned my lesson the first time, but, The thing that I think hurt me the most was that no one came to me either and was like, yo, well, what's up? Why did you do this? Are you okay? Is your relationship good?
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Even just in like, hey, you had concerns three weeks ago, four weeks ago. How's your relationship doing? What's the update? And instead, I think it was like a... Oh, let's put a ribbon on this. This will be a great storyline for me that where I can go on the offensive this next season. I don't have to talk about my life. I don't have to be interesting.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I can just kind of take, you know, take this rotten flesh and throw the hyenas. Yeah.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
How's your heart, Will? physically it's beating pretty fast okay a little nervous to be here but um it's good he looks nervous everybody it's the best he looks nervous well i also threw my neck out on the airplane so if that has a lot to do yeah well if i'm wincing at anything that anyone says it's not what they're saying i think it's uh it might just be physical pain are you nervous no not at all
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Do you actually think any of your castmates are actual evil? I think there's one in particular that enjoys hurting people. Not TJ. I think, yeah, I think Brad enjoys inflicting pain on others. Really? I don't know how else to explain his behavior. What makes you say that? Like,
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And this is what the text show at the reunion. That's the text that Andy saw is Brad saying, I found a girl who's going to break up their relationship.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Why are you nervous? I think it's just been really dramatic, like me not going to the reunion. And I knew that this podcast was coming up and I think that maybe I've put a lot of expectations that this will be a good way to really tell my story. And if that, you know, I'm hoping that I can do that.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I was in a meeting downstairs and I walked up to the hotel room and I was like, oh no, this is happening, isn't it?
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
because he's a manipulative because he definitely was not the focus he's a really good liar he's a really good liar well I think the story also like it's not just that he found this girl and he coached her to try to break up the relationship when that didn't work when Trevor wouldn't do it he said well we can just say that you made out with him if you go on camera I'll bring you around the cameras you say it you can't prove a negative and then we'll see what happens
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I need a storyline for the reunion because I'm worried I won't make it to season three. So I have three options.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Well, he says I have three options. No, he doesn't say I have three options. Well, this is what he was telling me. Oh, later on he does. He says I can either out Joe and Luann, who have hooked up. I can out you for the Sammy thing. Or I can talk about this cheating rumor I've heard about Mia and her boyfriend.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And he picked the Luan thing because it had the most steam because it's connected to another Bravo show. And that's what he went with.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
But on the text messages from the reunion is text from Brad to Emmy saying, I can never be the same kind of friend that I, or from my friendship with TJ is ultimately broken because he would threaten to do this.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And if it, if I don't meet those expectations, that's sort of what I'm nervous about more than anything else.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I think Joe will say anything that people want to hear to their face sometimes. And, you know, that means he's got to stay friends with everyone, which means he's not ever going to turn his back on Brad. He's too scared. And he's not going to tell Maddie what she doesn't want to hear. Not just that.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And I think, too, I just want to address our complicity. It's messed up. We felt horrible about it. And we felt like we were carrying this around for a long time. Since we've gotten closer with Maddie again and with Joe and their relationship, we really became real friends with them.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Watching... What happened to us this season and knowing that Maddie went through that herself made knowing the truth of what she went through. Yeah. Like when I came up to the hotel room and Emmy was doing this, like I just I started crying to Maddie because I was like, I just like I can't imagine what you've been through.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And I like I'm so ashamed that I was even I even had touched this and like knowing what I know now and I hate that. It was my own pain that made me realize this because I think that's not really a great quality to have to be hurt yourself to do the right thing. Sure. Part of life. It is part of life.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah. You're definitely old enough to know better. No, no. I had a few Peter Pan years. Not just that.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
It was hard because I think We never really knew what the rumor was or anything about it. And it came up at that Vegas dinner. And we were actually told by production, like, there's no proof to any of this. If you talk about it or try to address it on camera, it's going to gain traction and it's going to stay a storyline. Right now, it's so dumb that we hope it gets cut.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Like, it's not a big deal. So, you know, we were actively discouraged from talking about it, from trying to address it or anything. So we never really figured it all out until...
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Well, that's what I was going to say is that, like, I think what people don't realize is that this all came out like supposedly this was a rumor started at the law school in February, which was the exact time season two was airing.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
january and february of last year so people are watching a show where it's like oh yeah will hooked up with a girl in a bathroom and then that's somehow the same exact rumor so in my mind it's just this one rumor sort of getting regurgitated through a tv show into a game of telephone yeah into like a an environment that doesn't understand reality tv that doesn't know who i am and it's easy to just say oh yeah that's that's will that's the thing
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I'm not even sure that that was the rumor at the law school. We had a phone call with Austin's girlfriend before. So we didn't think this was getting discussed on the TV show anymore. And then we were like, we heard that they were filming.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
We also heard that they filmed a scene about the cheating room. Yeah, I'm like. And we thought this was like off the table.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
That's where we thought this rumor came from. So I'm like, OK, this is a person who's just graduated the whole time. I, you know, I just as a professional courtesy as a law student said, like, I don't want to involve you.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
in this thing like i just feel like i need to ask you personally and if you tell me you're not involved i'm gonna make sure that we don't mention you or your name anymore this is your friend colleague the person who was this is this is the girlfriend's brother who we had assumed that this rumor came from and he said it's the only link between austin and the law school and we no one ever told us where this rumor came from so we were guessing
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I texted him just saying like, look, I want to protect you from sort of what reality TV can be as a professional courtesy. And what happened is that Austin wasn't supposed to be dating Allie because they have sort of a weird history.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And the family does not like him. And he was like, oh, first off, I didn't even know that they were dating. That's not good. And second, I've never heard anything but great things about you at the law school. I've never heard this rumor anywhere.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah. And at this point we, we were so like tripped up and we, it was sort of, we felt so David and Goliath about it. We recorded this conversation. So we have the receipt of Ali saying.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
So we have Ali. That's smart. We have Ali recorded telling us that this rumor is. Yeah. Complete bullshit. So that's us walking through the finale. We know our friends are fishy. We know that this has sort of come out of nowhere.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
We know that they're willing to do whatever it takes for a storyline. And so when you watch the finale and the reunion, that's sort of the prerequisite facts needed to understand where our heads are at.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
It just kind of makes sense based on the phone call.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Well, also what TJ and Brad tried to do was, bring in stories of my peers in law school and try to use it as ammunition to make it true. And some of these stories are incredibly sensitive where I was helping people out who were going through like difficult situations that I did not want to then expose or talk about their situations on camera. Like,
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I let a girl stay at my apartment when me and Emmy were filming the reunion together. Emmy knew about it.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Put your boxes in my apartment. Here are my keys. If you need to sleep on the couch, because I know that you're going through a lot, go for it. It might be a better place for you.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah, but Mia's also not very friendly. So if she's, like, the gauge of friendliness, then the gauge is a little broken, you know?
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
But, you know, Mia's sassy, and she'll be the first person to tell you, I don't have empathy. I'm not an empathetic person.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah. But, you know, so that... Yeah. So then it's like to litigate this issue with people that are betraying us that are supposed to be our friends based on this like prerequisite situation. That's like incredibly complex and difficult to then when a camera's in your face, like go through all these steps about why we feel this way, because it's,
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And then when they have concerns, they don't ask. It's just like an isolate and ambush. They want to isolate us from the group. Stir up the hottest pot of tea that you can find and then splash it scaldingly hot into our faces. They want to watch me cry and watch me walk away. And they figured, hey, that's good TV. It's a good recipe for TV. Yeah, it's a great recipe.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Honestly, I can't blame them because it worked pretty well.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
What do you want? We're really worried law school is going to be hard on your relationship. And then it is. And then it's like, how dare you let this be hard on your relationship?
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Well, I think, you know, I think we could talk forever about what happened in the season and, you know, get into the nitty gritty. And that's, I don't know, that would be useful.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
It's called Barrister's Ball. See, I told you. Yeah. It's like a thing. Every law school has it. It's essentially just a law school problem.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Oh, where you took this girl home. Didn't buy a ticket. Yeah, like that's just a total crock. And if you look at what the finale was and the setting, in my mind, imagine all of this is true. What were they setting Emmy up for?
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
No, I wanted me to come to my law prom with me.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
She didn't tell her dad the weekend and he booked a trip to Aspen for them. And I was upset with her. I was like, I really want to take you. And then I was sat at home.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
But so I think for me, I just kind of want to hear what you have to say and maybe what you have to ask and your impressions, because I think that'll be a good starting point to try to address like the multitude of things that I feel like I have to say. How long you guys been dating for?
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
He did, not me. Yeah, so I... Is it your fault? It's actually, it's really, it's sort of complex, but I was... managing and bartending and modeling in New York and COVID hit. And I came back to Charleston and I had like an LSAT book on my desk for years because I'd always wanted to go. And I dusted it off and I was like, all right, I got to make ends meet, you know, in the interim.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
So I started working at Levis Bars. So I worked up the street at this place called First Place, which is now Lamar's. And I was seeing a girl at the time, and this is the same
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
It's very complex, but it was the girl Reagan from season one. And then that was the girl that I was seeing before Emmy. But this we could do a whole podcast on this.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
You guys got on the show. So they saw they saw me and Reagan sort of hooking up and they we were both sort of eccentric people and we were working for Leva and they were coming to shoot sort of like not like a pilot, but. You know, they were doing their waters. Yeah, they're testing the waters and interviewing. And I was like, this this seems fun. It sort of fell into my lap.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
It's not I never wanted to do reality TV. And it's never it was never a dream of mine. I like still feel a little cringe that I'm doing. But me and Emmy had just started seeing each other and they were filming the intro and Emmy was blushing.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
blacked out drunk and I was like she kept coming up and distracting me because we were doing this big long shot I ruined all the scenes and so everyone had to get their marks right because it was like they were filming all 10 of us in one long shot which I don't think made the final edit but it was a cool concept but Emmy kept coming up and distracting me like right as it was mine and they'd have to reset so I was like who is this blonde girl that keeps ruining all the scenes so I was like Emmy you gotta get out of here and we were like bickering and then I put her in a pedicab and she went home Trevor drove me home no I'm kidding
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
No, yeah. And then her contacts fell out and she came back and she's super blind. She was like Velma in the bar.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
So much. But basically, whoever was shooting this was like, who's that girl and what is this relationship between Will and Emmy? And then Emmy got casted shortly after. And then what is your relationship status with the show as of today? It's difficult for me. I think the clearest thing for me is that I'll always support Emmy and her position in the show.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Almost four years. Yeah, it's our birthday on Wednesday. We have the same birthday. Yeah, we have the same birthday.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I think that I've probably ruffled some feathers by... Probably? I've certainly ruffled some feathers by not going to the reunion. It's something... I regret it a little bit.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah, I think we were just starting, because of the way that the show had portrayed me in our relationship, it felt like that I would have to dig myself out from under a mountain. And the, the ways that I would address it would need like a long form segment just to try to break down all the nuances.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And, and on top of that, the people in the stage I knew are just very interested in whether or not they're making it to the next season. And, are sort of willing to say or do whatever they wanted that. And yeah. And it, it was just going to be a bloodbath. It wasn't like I could come on here and explain to you guys like, Hey, this is what happened. And we could have like an engaging conversation.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
So we take a trip every year. This is our fourth trip together.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
It would have been sort of two steps forward, one step back, two steps forward, one step back. And these people, they aren't my friends anymore. And they were going to be on that stage and try to act like we were still friends and use that as a position of power to engage in a conversation with me that I felt was was ultimately a fake conversation.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And I also just, like, my mental health at this point couldn't take it. It sounds like you're not sure what your future holds.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Would you say yes? Are you still on the fence? I'm still on the fence. I think, you know, I think there's some conversations I need to have about how how the show is filmed. And I also think that like the two most important things in my life right now are my relationships. And, you know, what's left of my legal career after all this.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
But I just don't see reality TV as a format where relationships thrive.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
No, we didn't think it would be this bad, but we probably should have.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah. I applaud his his commitment to trying to make me feel bad.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah, he took a field trip. I think it's funny because I'm not sure. Wait, he took a field trip to take this photo?
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
You know, I think he's, you know, I'll just say that he's probably taking a picture on the outside. I'm not sure he would, he could get in.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah, she also doesn't understand our dynamic. Like, she's been here five minutes and...
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Emmy was seeing someone else. I was seeing someone else. And then those relationships didn't work out. We sort of kind of fell into each other's arms a little bit.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
It was like 4 a.m. with a bottle of wine on a porch. And Emmy looked at me and said, you know, we're just friends. And then we started hooking up. So. And you said challenge accepted. Yeah. I said, okay.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
hearing you tell the story i'm like i don't huh well this so i would have been like just just my my interjection into the scene was like all of a sudden someone's like emmy is upset i'm out at the bar and my brother's coming to film for the first time and so i'm like trying to text with him i'm like nervous he's got to come get mic'd up and stuff so i see emmy i walk in she's giving me like the don't fucking come over here eyes like the i got this like like just stay out of it stay out of it so i walk up because
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
here's another thing they're gonna do they're gonna will's getting involved in work drama i'm like yeah i don't need that so i i walk up and she's explaining situation i'm like so this didn't happen like because i'm like if it didn't happen this is all so dumb well i'm also reacting really big but then i look at the situation and i go all right this is two two girls fighting about a work issue i'm coming in as like the man who's in law school now that's gonna try to like adjudicate their dispute when i have to
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
no dog in the fight like it's just gonna be me mansplaining to them like how they need to resolve a work issue and I don't work there anymore and I said like it's probably better if I let them solve this issue on their own and then I'm there for Emmy afterwards and then me and Emmy filmed a hour long scene afterwards where I was consoling her and me and my brother were talking to her about the situation
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
It didn't look good. I know that I was like, I could have probably rubbed her back or kissed her on the forehead.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
How much time do you have left? I've got one year. Okay. More year. And then I got to pass the bar.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah. And it's gotten really bad at this point because of the season where like I am now like struggling to sort of have privacy at school where I've got female peers that I love studying with and doing projects with that are really intelligent students.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
No, I can't. I literally can't be at the school like alone with a female or else I see like on some page or thread somewhere that Will's at the school with a girl. And it's like, I'm literally just trying to get an A in this class, but it's not that simple anymore. And it's made it sort of uncomfortable for me. Yeah, that's unfortunate.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah, we need to talk about T.J. for a second. I think T.J., he's built his entire identity around the show, and I think that he's wanted to be on reality TV for a long time. I think he wanted to be on Charm for a while before this show, and I think maybe he's just... It makes him insecure when he then watches himself back on the show, and he's just very hyper-aware of how much time he's getting.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Screen time. Screen time. This story may be true, but that doesn't justify... But I do think that it, well, I get what you're asking. Is he just that kind of person in general?
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah. And I think what's also wild is that he, it wasn't some secret, right? He was vocal to in Charleston about this thing with Joe. Like,
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
So I think, you know, I think at some point he's saying like, I, I didn't really tell anyone other than Brad, like that's not true.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
It's hard. It's hard to talk about these things. And I think maybe we don't talk about it enough. But, you know, I had never I guess just being so wrapped up in it all, I had never really like taken a step back and seen it like that way. And it's weird.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
originally came from you to begin with you know it just to me felt like a lot of what like confusion yeah i mean i've always thought that like if it's true it's wrong if it's false it's wrong yeah right right yeah i think that's like the simplest way to and i just don't know why tj is able to like milk this storyline for a storyline where it's just like bro like you seem like the bad guy
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Well, I think, too, we've noticed, you know, our castmates get a little camera drunk. And I think they've become in this third season very aware of what it means to have a storyline. what it means to be able to get screen time and that if you are on the offensive, you're not on the defensive. And I think relationships are easy targets.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I've always felt really bad for Joe through the whole thing. So I can't imagine how difficult it's been for him to navigate. Yeah.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah, we all had each other's locations for like three years straight.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah, you can't... That's my thing with Brad, and he makes these posts and everything, and I just don't feel the need to engage, because I think if you go out into the world and you act that way, one day you'll get what's coming to you. No, I get that.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And I think maybe that's what you've seen a lot of is that maybe for viewers, it's been interesting to see, you know, why are they still talking about this? You know, why are they so riled up? That's certainly how I felt.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Well, I think it also hurt. I think it hurts the show as a whole. Cause I don't think anyone who's involved, you know, top to bottom wants there to be,
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
You don't want it to all be lies. The idea and what we'd always hoped for from the start doing the show was that we were a really tight friend group and we wanted to go through the ups and downs of being friends together. I think that was always the plan and somewhere along the way it got sidetracked. I think it's been bad for everyone. I think everyone in some ways is going to be hurt by that.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I feel good. You know, it's hard to relitigate these things again and again. I think people don't understand that about reality TV is that your life is not your life. Your life is over and over and over and over again to audiences. And then people comment on sort of how it's documented and, you know.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
what do you mean will didn't cheat on emmy there's how do you just have fake cheating rumors that doesn't happen yeah if you're in the real world maybe like and and our lives aren't like even the real i mean people are bored people are bored and it's an easy target too like i think you know my my life my whole life isn't this show like i have school and and and stuff like that and these the problem is now they've they've bled into each other in a way that that's been tough and
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I appreciate being able to go on something like this with this sort of format and have these longer conversations because I think they're important. And I think that it complements the show world very well because you get this more nuanced take and you get the ability to really speak about who you are and maybe not just the caricature of you that people see in a limited context.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
So it makes it hard for us to want to be open. Even open up about the shit that does happen. Because we were always like, we were always super open to talk about this. Like if we had filmed all of that stuff about, you know, me inappropriately oversharing, I would have loved to have that conversation in different terms. Like, and to really talk with, you know, Brad and TJ and my friends about it.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
But the issue is that it blew up at a big dinner where I wasn't there. And it's like, okay, well, how do I have this conversation now? because it seems like it's already been pre-written for me when what my role in it is. And it, it was, it was really disappointing for me and it made it the season as it kept airing.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I felt more and more of that, that other people were telling my story and it, then it made it hard for me to actually want to tell the real story of us. And I don't think we really got a chance to talk about like our fights and our lies grew legs.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah, and I think she's realizing, okay, we're going to have to talk about this for a year.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Like, in that moment, she's, you know, playing...
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah, I think for me... I've especially this this season struggle with that so hard that I really question whether this is the right thing for me. And I when I look at Emmy, I think that she's a star and I just think that she it's hard for her to put her relationship in that context. If it was just Emmy, you know, the the Servant Republic, then I think she could do it, you know.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Well, it's funny. Emmy's mom has been saying, well, she said like after watching this season that Emmy's been having those sort of like,
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
You know, I gave them, I gave them plenty of ammunition and I can only blame myself for that.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
You know, I, it's, you know, I think, thank you guys for giving me the forum and, Yeah. You know, I think we could talk forever, but I don't know if that's going to make it any.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
No, I feel better. I feel better. I think that's the best.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah, like not meltdown because I think that's mean. But Emmy is very reactive, emotionally reactive.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah, I think I'm very lucky that Emmy is such a, she's very glass half full kind of person. So I just think going forward, no matter what happens with the show or, you know, who's involved in or who's in the hot seat, I think that, you know, I try to borrow a page from Emmy's book, which is just to see it for the best.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
OK, which why for me, like when I see her do that, it's not for me. My alarm bells don't get off because Emmy is just like a reactive. She feels deep. So I don't I'm not alarmed. That's just who I know her to be. I mean, it is alarming to see your girlfriend cry.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
You know, I think the starting point is very accurate and it's something that I'm like deeply apologetic and shameful of and, You know, I was going through a really well, first, I just don't want to you know, I want to explain myself without sounding like I'm excusing myself. Like I'm not saying at all that behavior is like, OK, it's definitely a mistake on my part.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
But, you know, I was going through like a really stressful time. My life was changing. I was just like just had surgery. It was a lot of physical pain. Yada yada. There's a lot of good reasons, but it doesn't really matter.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
I came back to Charleston and I used alcohol as advice and I drank too much and I overshared and I overshared to good friends of mine about concerns that I had with the relationship. I thought that maybe we were growing apart and I was worried that Emmy was focusing on the wrong things and that's something that's a conversation I should have had with Emmy. And I know that.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And I think that it was a nice moment for me, if there's any silver lining to it, to, to recognize my own failure and to, and then, you know, to go to Emmy and say like, look, I messed up and we should have had this conversation. I should have come to you about this. And then, It actually let us talk more deeply about our relationship and our feelings.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
it was two it was two weekends where it happened it was like sort of back to back okay and uh it wasn't like i i think when you say like oh will was talking shit about emmy especially on a tv show you just get to throw it out there and then you have to sort of prove a negative that you that it wasn't talking shit when it sort of it was talking behind yeah it was it was cousins to that but it wasn't me just telling anyone that like i hate her i think she's a bad person or that
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah, no. Well, I remember in these conversations, it was always like, I love Emmy and I'm concerned about these things. And I'm worried that maybe we're growing apart. And part of the issue is one, like I didn't have friends when I went to law school that really understood us or our relationship. So I didn't have that outlet when I was like in school.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
So I'd come into Charleston for the weekend and it was like on my mind pressing. And then I, you know, added alcohol to the mix and blurred the lines of sort of who and where it was appropriate to have these conversations. But they weren't just to strangers. They were to our coworkers that have known me and Emmy for years.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And I think some people who brought it up said like, oh, he's telling the whole town, even one of my clients or like one of my friends. But those clients and friends are like one of them is Naomi Olindo from Charm, who was my pen pal in middle school. who I've known for years, but like that sort of context wasn't added to the conversation, you know?
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And one was like somebody's roommate who I worked with behind the bar Republic for years, who knows me and me well. And I was, I was sort of like leaning in to those relationships to try to say, like, I just wanted someone to be like, no, you're stupid. Like this shouldn't be a concern. And how did it get back to you?
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
And I think, too, like I've always been hyper aware of it because I like I love her and I care about her. And in the past, like I've had to throw her scale out before because when I don't.
The Viall Files
E899 Going Deeper with Emmy and Will
Yeah. But like she, you know, she she's can become obsessive. And I was worried I was seeing this change and I was hoping that it was attributed to this lifestyle. But I just didn't know. And I was sort of going to the people that are around her the most and saying like, am I crazy? Do I need to be concerned?