As you all surely know by now, Happy Days star and TV legend Erin Moran passed away on Saturday at the age of 56.
You probably also know that Scott Baio has not passed up this incredible opportunity to be the worst person in the world.
See, Erin had reportedly struggled with addiction issues for most of her life, so since she died so young and, according to early reports of her death, there were no obvious causes, people assumed addiction played a role.
Which is fine, really — it’s normal to have theories about unexplained tragedies.
But what wasn’t fine is how Scott Baio, Erin’s former co-star and one-time boyfriend, reacted.
In a statement, Scott said that he was “a little shocked but not completely shocked” about Erin’s death.
“My thing is,” he went on to explain, “I feel bad because her whole life, she was troubled, could never find what made her happy and content.”
“For me, you do drugs or drink, you’re gonna die.”
“I’m sorry if that’s cold, but God gave you a brain, gave you the will to live and thrive and you gotta take care of yourself,” he added.
For one, that would be an awful thing to say, even if drugs or alcohol were the cause of Erin’s death. It’s just not appropriate.
But two, his assumption wasn’t even accurate, as we now know that Erin died after a particularly brutal battle with cancer.
So Scott probably feels like a real jerk now, huh? He probably apologized already for putting his foot in his dumb mouth like that.
Except it’s Scott Baio we’re talking about here, a man who has a longstanding, well-earned reputation as king among douches.
So not so much.
“This is so wrong,” he said, not of his quotes, but about the reaction to his statement. “Now I know what fake news is!”
That, of course, doesn’t make sense … “fake news” isn’t just news you don’t appreciate or news that hurts your feelings.
More importantly, his argument was that he said “IF” you abuse drugs or alcohol. He didn’t say that Erin Moran did.
OK, but now we’re at the plot twist:
Erin has a brother named Tony Moran, who, interestingly enough, played Michael Myers in the original Halloween movie.
And he is pissed.
Tony Moran sent a little message to Scott Baio on Twitter, advising him to “Get on your knees and pray I never run into you.”
He elaborated on his issues with Scott on his Facebook, making sure he’s put on notice as part of “a special shout out.”
“I already went on Twitter about you,” he said. “I hope it finds you.”
“You and my lil sis had a very very brief fling. She dumped you. 2 reasons. 1. She told me that you were more like a lil girl and not a man.”
“2. She told me that you were tiny,” he continued the burn:
“Ya know. Barely a man in the man region. True story!”
Damn.
Moran finished the Facebook post by telling the actor again to pray that they never run into each other in person.
A few hours later, Tony had an update that really just confirmed our opinion of Scott Baio as a world class jackass.
“Well guys. Guess what?” he began. “I was contacted by Scott Baio’s wife. His wife! F-cking coward!”
He wrote that he’s never met Scott’s wife, but “I do know the scumbag piece of sh-t Scott Baio tho. He was a piece of sh-t back then and still is.”
“He had his wife contact me! Very apologetic and sh-t.”
“Doesn’t surprise me. It’s too late you motherf-cking pieces of sh-t! Go back under the rock you crawled out from under.”
“There isn’t one word I want to hear you speak,” he said, concluding his online rant as such. “Makes me sick to my stomach.”
So yeah. To sum up the situation:
Scott Baio not only went out of his way to nasty things about Erin, he didn’t apologize, but had his wife apologize on his behalf.
It would almost be funny if it weren’t so darn sad, given what Moran’s family is going through right now, but that’s Baio for you.