My impression has certainly been that everyone expected them to be best friends, and then when they stated that basically, no, they've got professional respect

My impression has certainly been that everyone expected them to be best friends, and then when they stated that basically, no, they've got professional respect for each other but aren't at the level where they're seeking out joint projects for post-mythbusters projects or having frequent social contact, people started interpreting it as the other extreme and assuming there was animosity there. Basically on the level of that guy you worked with in a previous job that you're not really going to put in the effort to reach out to as much as you both said you would.