It’s one thing to go viral for your talent. It’s another to go viral for fake-kissing your gay twin brother in an apparent homage to the incestuous threesome plot line from The White Lotus.
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But hey, if anyone can pull it off and still walk away sexy, unscathed, and unbothered — it’s Cooper and Payton Koch.
In a now-disappeared Instagram story posted by their younger brother Walker, the Koch twins posed under a map of Thailand — the season 3 setting for The White Lotus — with Cooper leaning in toward Payton teasing quite the brotherly love moment.
By tagging @thewhitelotus, they sent the message loud and clear that this was a parody of the season’s most WTF moment: when the fictional Ratliff brothers (played by Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola) shared a drug-fueled threesome.
When that happened, the internet collectively freaked with users saying things like the "incest thing" happened to "show us how a homophobic Republican is made." The week before, when the on-screen brothers first kissed, the internet also went crazy, with users saying things like, "I thought everyone knew up front that this show is a satire with dark comedy mocking rich white people."
What makes this parody all the juicier is that Cooper Koch isn’t just some random actor capitalizing on the moment—he starred in Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, a series that raised eyebrows for also hinting at incestuous undertones between the infamous real-life brothers, though that is wish all speculation.
Adding to the intrigue? Both Koch twins are out and proud, extremely attractive, and come from a Hollywood lineage (their grandfather, Hawk, is a former Academy president). Cooper’s carving a name for himself as a rising actor, while Payton is racking up Emmy nominations as a sought-after editor.
Basically, they’re hot, talented, and fully in on the joke.
In a world where sibling dynamics on TV are getting more homoerotic by the minute, the Koch twins’ wink to the camera feels more like a smart commentary than shock bait. And we love to see it.
PRIDE reached out to Walker for further comment, but has yet to receive a response.
Cooper Koch and twin bro spark controversy with eye-popping White Lotus parody
The Koch brothers and the fictional Ratliff brothers from 'White Lotus'
Move over Ratliffs, the Koch brothers are here.
Andrew Stillman