It was 1997 when actor Gillian Anderson won an Emmy for her role in "The X-Files," and celebrated by leaning in for a kiss with the leading man of her life — but it wasn't her boyfriend.
Anderson was just announced as the winner for her portrayal of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully on the beloved sci-fi conspiracy drama. She then infamously turned to kiss her "X-Files" co-star David Duchovny, aka Special Agent Fox Mulder, on the mouth as he was seated behind. Only then did she lean to her side to kiss her boyfriend, Rodney Rowland, seated next to her.
Clips of that moment, cemented in pop culture history, have recirculated on platforms like Reddit and Tik Tok.
In a Tik Tok video Friday, Anderson cleared the air on that move.
“OK so I’ve been told that you guys want some information about when I won the [Emmy] back about a century ago and I kissed David first and why did I not kiss my boyfriend Rodney,” she said.
“The fact is that David and I were actually living together and Rodney was my beard,” she joked. "Beard" is a slang term for a fake romantic partner.
“I'm joking, that’s just a joke. Is that really mean?” Anderson continued.
“I don’t know why I kissed him first,” she admitted. “I guess because he was on the show with me and we were practically married because we spent more time with each other than we did with our loved ones. We were there to celebrate the series and so yeah. Maybe? Maybe that’s what it was?”
Anderson noted that Rowland was a good sport about the smooches, despite the public's frenzy.
“Rodney was a great guy, don’t think it bothered him. He understood. It was complex,” she concluded.