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Though Frank Reynolds may have famously instructed the Paddy’s Pub crew to “just throw (him) in the trash” in the event of his death, the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia gang has no reason to head to the dumpster just yet — contrary to the initial jump scare several fans endured after misreading Rob McElhenney’s most recent Instagram post.
On Sunday, McElhenney headed to his socials with a tribute celebrating his longtime co-star Danny Devito’s 80th birthday, one that inadvertently read more as a “memorial” than a “celebration” to some jumpy It’s Always Sunny fans.
“This man was born 80 years ago today,” McElhenney captioned a professional snap of the sitcom icon.
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“He could still drink you under the table. He could still make you laugh harder than anyone you’ve ever met. He could still make you feel like you’re the only person in the room,” he continued. “He could still give you the best advice you’ve ever gotten and make you feel loved no matter what.”
But between McElhenney’s choice of photo and his strange use of the past modal tense, some fans assumed the worst, briefly mistaking the birthday post for a eulogy honoring It’s Always Sunny’s resident trash man.
“Anyone else have a massive panic attack when they saw the photo on Rob’s timeline?” asked @demra31, one of several fans who flocked to the comments upon wrongly concluding that DeVito had died.
“Don’t scare me like that!” added @gfoyleage, while @eliasjortiz admitted they “nearly shit myself” upon seeing the photo.
But while none of us may know how much time we have left with the newly octogenarian actor, we can still take a page from DeVito’s book of life. As he once famously said as Franjk, “I don’t know how many years on this Earth I got left. I’m gonna get real weird with it.”