'Modern Family' Reunion Photo Raises Questions

Modern Family fans were left concerned for one of show's beloved stars after the cast reunited recently.

Sofia Vergara revealed on Wednesday that the cast had had its first reunion since the show ended in 2020.

"First Modern Family reunion!!!!" she captioned the first post, with two heart emoji.

"So lucky to have worked with this people for 11 years❤️. I love and miss u all guys!!! #modernfamily," she wrote in the caption of another.

But it was one detail that had the comedy's fans in a panic. Ty Burrell, who played Phil Dunphy on the show, was absent.

Instead, his TV daughter, Ariel Winter, held up a framed photo of him as the rest of the cast stood smiling behind a floral arrangement in Vergara's home. Another video posted to Vergara's Instagram showed her focusing on the photo, which sat on her mantle, before panning out to the cast standing in her living room surrounded by flowers and lit candles.

"We miss you Ty," she joked.

The setup of the photo made it look like a funeral arrangement to some fun who thought Burrell had passed away. Burrell is still alive.

Newsweek contacted Burrell's representatives for comment.

"i thought ty burrell died bruh," wrote one fan on X, formerly Twitter.

Another added: "Wtf i thought ty burell died."

And a third wrote: "RIP PHIL DUNPHY."

While a fourth commented: "HE PASSED AWAY??????

The ABC show about blended families ran for 11 seasons beginning in 2009.

In its time on air it won 22 Emmys and five in a row for best comedy series.

Burrell himself won two Emmys for his portrayal of the bumbling Dunphy patriarch, in 2011 and 2014.

The actor admitted his real self is a lot closer to his character than people might think.

"I was a cad who was somewhat closer to Phil in a lot of ways. I think Steve, Chris (Levitan and Lloyd, the show's creators), and I spent enough time around each other offscreen that my dopey but well-intended side may have come out," he told EW in 2020.

He also described wrapping up Modern Family after 11 years.

"You can't really process it until you're there," Burrell said. "I had a sense for how it was going to be, but in the end... it was like a beautiful torture. It was like being at a wedding and a funeral at the same time. We were celebrating and laughing the whole week. We had a great week filming what was a beautifully written episode. But in every scene that got filmed towards the end, it got a little tearier and a little harder. And then when we finally got to the last day, it was more of the funeral part."