Julianna Margulies on ‘Good Wife’ Feud Rumors: “There’s No Animosity on My Part”

Julianna Margulies finally weighed in on the long-simmering rumors of a feud between her and former Good Wife co-star Archie Panjabi.

And Margulies claims “there’s no animosity” from her and the whole story is just “gossip.”

Speaking at the New Yorker Festival on Sunday, Margulies said, according to Vulture, “I’ve heard about [the feud]. Who says that? It’s totally gossip. I heard that question had been asked to [co-showrunner] Robert King. There’s no story there, sorry … I actually had heard [that rumor] and I feel that it has been talked about and answered. I feel people just like to have gossip or make something into something that isn’t there. There’s no animosity on my part. It’s a shame, because I wonder if it was two men, when one finds out that he f—ed his best friend’s wife, if it would get that same attention, you know what I mean?”

Whispers that the two actresses didn’t get along, for an unknown reason, grew louder as the two failed to share a scene together for more than 30 episodes. And then after they finally did reunite onscreen in the sixth season finale, for Panjabi’s last appearance on the show, it was revealed that the two didn’t film the scene together, but instead special effects were used to make it look like they did.

As for that scene, specifically, Margulies says it was King’s idea to film it that way and suggests that scheduling difficulties, particularly Panjabi filming The Fall for BBC Two, contributed to the need for special effects.

“It was shot the way Robert wanted to shoot it, and the storyline, too,” Margulies said, according to Vulture. “You also have to remember, there’s difficulty … [Panjabi] was also doing another show, called The Fall. I went along with whatever Robert asked me to do and I did it happily.”

Shortly after Vulture’s coverage of Margulies’ remarks was posted online, though, Panjabi tweeted that there wasn’t a scheduling issue on her part.

http://t.co/7Ci8jY9lSf. @TheFallTV was not even in production at that time and I was in New York ready to film the scene!

— Archie Panjabi (@PanjabiArchie) October 5, 2015

Outgoing CBS Entertainment chairman Nina Tassler addressed the scene at this summer’s TCA press tour, saying, “I’m not going to reveal movie magic. The ending was very satisfying for the characters and I stand by how Robert and Michelle King produce their show.”