The Gang has ruined plenty of other people’s lives on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but the biggest victim within the group itself is Kaitlin Olson’s constantly berated and yelled-at Sweet Dee. But Dee presents the extremely rare case where victim-blaming actually works out, since she’s just as morally defunct as everyone else. The actress herself obviously doesn’t deserves the namecalling her character faces, but Olson doesn’t actually doesn’t mind fans screaming “Shut up, bird!” at her as often as they do.
Proving once more how much of a treasure she is within the entertainment industry, Olson engaged in a hilarity-filled conversation with Conan O’Brien for the host’s podcast Conan Needs a Friend to promote not only her ABC hit High Potential (which was recently renewed for Season 2), but also the upcoming 17th season of It’s Always Sunny. And when the topic of fan interactions came up, with O’Brien recalling Three Stooges anecdotes, Olson confirmed she gets called “bird” in public on a daily basis. As she put it:
Oh, yeah. ‘Dee’s a bird. Shut up, bird.’ A lot…a lo-o-o-o-t of ‘Shut up, bird.’ Mostly ‘Shut up, bird.’ Yeah, on a daily basis. . . . [My kids] love it. They think it’s the best thing in the world.
While I’m not necessarily condoning the act of yelling at celebrities in public when they might be having a private moment or are just trying to concentrate, there’s something exquisitely absurd about a stranger yelling ‘Shut up, bird!” at another person as a sign of pure adoration. And by all means, if she hated it, her constant plights would be a lot less amusing to think about.
However, as she made it clear to O’Brien & Co., she’s perfectly content with having his level of success, and doesn’t understand why certain parts of the fandom are needlessly defensive about it on her behalf on social media. In her words:
See, I love it. The most fun is when people do it in the comment section of whatever social media, and then I have so many fans jump on them and be like, ‘You think she hasn’t heard that before?!? You know, she’s other things…’ I find it hilarious, and it doesn’t bother me at all. Calling someone a bird isn’t an insult. It’s the stupdiest. They’re calling me a bird. Who cares?
I suppose someone defending a celeb from in-show references is as innately preposterousness as me lauding Kaitlin Olson as a goddess simply for being fine with such fan comments. But I can easily imagine a plethora of other more tightly wound actors and actresses who would not take so kindly to being told to shut up so often, regardless of the context. (Obviously I’m talking about the most feathered friend in the biz, Big Bird.)
That said, she likely stands out even among her Always Sunny co-stars in that respect. I can’t imagine that Charlie Day gets homemade Kitten Mittens thrown at him every time he leaves his house. Or that Glenn Howerton gets the entire D.E.N.N.I.S. System rule set yelled at him on the subway. I actually can see a lot of fans giving Danny DeVito rum-injected hams and various psychedelics, though.
Check out this excellent supercut of characters calling Dee a bird, because nothing else could possibly be more worthy of one’s time right now.
Always Sunny fans are eager to see Dee and the rest of the Gang back in action for its record-breaking Season 17, which is set to debut later in the 2025 TV schedule. While not much is know about what random NSFW behavior will be on display, but we’re definitely looking forward to the reverse side of Abbott Elementary and Always Sunny’s crossover plans. The quarrelsome quintet arrived at the Philly school in early January for some half-assed volunteering, and the second part will hopefully give Howerton’s Dennis more to do, since the character refused to be on the faux documentary’s cameras.
So the next time anyone sees Kaitlin Olson in public, remember that even though it’s okay for you to yell “Shut up, bird,” at her, read the room first. And if you’re in some kind of a…bird…room…then you’re good to go.