Ty Burrell Explains Why Everyone Thought He Was Dead After Missing 2023 ‘Modern Family’ Reunion

Ty Burrell is clearing up rumors about why he wasn’t at the Modern Family reunion in 2023 and why fans thought he was dead.

The Modern Family actor joined costar Jesse Tyler Ferguson for his “Dinner’s On Me” podcast to discuss the viral death hoax this week.

“We had that one big reunion,” Jesse, 49, explained, to which Ty, 57, responded, “That I couldn’t make it to.”

“Well, I died,” Ty said, to which Jesse replied, “Famously you died.”

“Remember how I died? Do you remember when I died?” Ty asked.

“The internet had decided that you had died,” Jesse said.

Of course they were referencing when the cast met up in November 2023 and posed for photos together shared to Sofía Vergara’s Instagram account. Ty was noticeably absent from the reunion, however, his cast members held up a photo of him in his absence. Additionally, she also shared a video in which Ty’s photo was placed on the mantle above the fireplace. His costars could be heard in the background saying, “We miss you, Ty!”

Many fans were confused in the comments section of the posts, pointing out how it looked like the cast members were eulogizing Ty.

“I had to check Google to make sure he didn’t die,” one user wrote.

“THIS MADE ME THINK HE WAS DEAD I PANICKED LMAO,” another said.

Jesse explained that the cast all made plans to meet up but Ty forgot he had surgery scheduled for that day. He then went to his surgery instead of hanging out with his costars.

“After that whole thing, everybody in the cast was telling me that, you know, apparently I passed,” Ty reflected during the podcast episode. “But the only photos I had of me missing were me in the hospital from surgery.”

Jesse began to laugh while Ty explained why he was not at the reunion with his costars. The Take Me Out star previously appeared on The Tonight Show after the reunion photos went viral, clarifying that Ty was alive and well.

“Honestly, on that night, we were all busy,” Jesse said. “We all canceled those very important things, and we figured out a way to come together because the last time we had a reunion, Ty Burrell wasn’t able to come, and so we posed with a photo of Ty … and then the internet thought he was dead.”

Modern Family ended in April 2020 after 11 seasons. Ty portrayed Phil Dunphy for all 11 years of the show. He reflected on what he was most proud of about the show after filming wrapped.

“There’s an inclusive quality. It brings people together,” the Emmy winner told Parade in April 2020. “When we started, people actually watched it on Wednesday nights with their family — and that, hopefully, contributed to stronger families. That makes me really proud.”

Ty also revealed if his parenting philosophy on the show was similar to how he parents his two kids in real life.

“There are a lot of things that, for obvious reasons, I share with Phil in terms of my demeanor. I am also a hopeless optimist, which I share with Phil,” he said. “But weirdly, the parenting that I have related to most has been the Mitch and Cam [Eric Stonestreet] storyline, because their daughter, Lily [Aubrey Anderson–Emmons], was the age of my kids, and I’m an adoptive parent [to daughters Frances and Greta]. So those parallels were the things that I was drawn to the most. Watching the show as a normal viewer, I got the most laughs over the last 11 years from their storyline, because I was going through all of that.”