In the wake of comedy legend Gilbert Gottfried's passing, a selfie he had taken with his stand-up comedy peers, Bob Saget and Louie Anderson–both of whom passed away in January–has resurfaced and gone viral for an ominous reason.
This photo is very sad now. RIP Bob Saget and RIP Louie Anderson. Both good friends that will be missed.pic.twitter.com/DLJ8Ntt7LN— Gilbert Gottfried (@Gilbert Gottfried) 1642781891
The entertainment industry mourned after hearing the news that Gottfried–a brash comedian who was famous for lending his shrill voice to the parrot Iago for Disney's 1992 animated classic, Aladdin–died on Tuesday.
He was 67.
According to his family, he passed away “after a long illness," which his longtime friend and publicist, Glenn Schwartz, confirmed was type II myotonic dystrophy–a rare genetic muscle disorder.
Saget was 65 when he died on January 9 due to accidental head trauma, and Anderson succumbed to complications from cancer on January 21 at the age of 68.
Gottfried's photo with Saget and Anderson resurfaced because of the collective impact of their deaths within months of each other.
But it also went viral because Gottfried had posted it to mourn the loss of two of his industry friends three months before his own death.
“This photo is very sad now,” read Gottfried's post's caption, dated January 21–the day Anderson died.
“RIP Bob Saget and RIP Louie Anderson. Both good friends that will be missed."
People in the comments at the time eerily suggested he might be foretelling his own fate.
And you\u2019re next, friend.— Ben The Iceman | \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f (@Ben The Iceman | \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f) 1642793460
Comes in threes Gilbert.— Jennings Tremaine (JT) (@Jennings Tremaine (JT)) 1642784213
Are you worried that maybe this photograph is cursed and you\u2019re next?— crimson king ape (@crimson king ape) 1642837968
I hope you didn't just jinx yourself.— RottyFat (@RottyFat) 1642827726
Why don\u2019t you stay inside for the next little while eh?— Ike (@Ike) 1642788543
WHOS NEXTpic.twitter.com/4oYQPawSGZ— bigcheeseburger (@bigcheeseburger) 1642788134
People revisited the old photo to express their heartbreak after losing the three pictured comedy legends in such a short time span.
Gilbert Gottfried tweeted this photo out in Jan, after the passing of Bob Saget, and Louie Anderson.\nWith his passing today, all three in the photo are no longer with us..pic.twitter.com/hehpbunV40— \u2584\u2580\u2584\u2580\u2584\ud83c\udd73\ud83c\udd70\ud83c\udd7d\ud83c\udd83\ud83c\udd78\ud83c\udd75\ud83c\udd70\u2584\u2580\u2584\u2580\u2584 (@\u2584\u2580\u2584\u2580\u2584\ud83c\udd73\ud83c\udd70\ud83c\udd7d\ud83c\udd83\ud83c\udd78\ud83c\udd75\ud83c\udd70\u2584\u2580\u2584\u2580\u2584) 1649792943
First it was Bob Saget then Louie Anderson and now Gilbert Gottfried. Like damn, it's like the joy is slowly being sucked out of this world in the 2022. Shit sucks. Gottfried was definitely an all time great. RIP pic.twitter.com/pyjH7WQPh1— JCITY IS CANCELED \ud83d\udeab (@JCITY IS CANCELED \ud83d\udeab) 1649810413
This photo of Bob Saget, Louie Anderson and Gilbert Gottfried just got even more sad with the passing of Gottfried. pic.twitter.com/j4bTHnbJk2— Angel loves Moon Knight (@Angel loves Moon Knight) 1649793486
Incredibly sad to hear about passing of Gilbert Gottfried. He posted this photo a few months back with Bob Saget and Louie Anderson. All three are gone now. A huge, generational loss for comedy. https://twitter.com/variety/status/1513963239922561025\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/eX5pC7umdI— Mike (@Mike) 1649809115
Although Gottfried's untimely passing left his fans and Hollywood colleagues in despair, his family encouraged them to remember him the way he would have wanted–with laughter.
“Although today is a sad day for all of us, please keep laughing as loud as possible in Gilbert’s honor," they said in a statement.
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