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Parks and Recreation ended more than a decade ago, but its seven seasons left behind countless meme formats to be recycled in perpetuity. Still, members of the cast are protective of how their most memorable scenes are repurposed online. Nick Offerman recently came to the defense of his stoic character Ron Swanson after Michael Flynn Jr., son of Donald Trump’s former U.S. national security adviser Michael Flynn, shared a homophobic post on X using a Parks and Recreation meme.
“Just wanted to post how I feel about ‘pride’ month,” Flynn captioned a GIF that edited a Pride flag over the computer Swanson tossed into a dumpster in the Season Four episode “The Trial of Leslie Knope.” He replied to his own post doubling down on his rage bait, writing: “I love how triggered the ABC Mafia crowd is by this meme.”
Offerman took the post as an opportunity to set the record straight about Swanson, who would have never agreed with Flynn using him to boost homophobia. “Ron was best man at a gay wedding you dumb fuck,” the actor wrote in response. After making the reference to “One Last Ride,” Parks and Recreation’s series finale where Ron joins his hairdresser’s wedding, he added: “#Happy Pride.”
Offerman recently portrayed a queer character in The Last of Us. His character Bill shaped a romance plot line with Murray Bartlett’s Frank. “Thanks to HBO for having the guts to participate in this storytelling tradition that is truly independent,” Offerman said at the 2024 Independent Spirit Awards. “Stories with guts that when homophobic hate comes my way and says, ‘Why did you have to make it a gay story?’ We say, ‘Because you ask questions like that. It’s not a gay story, it’s a love story, you asshole!’”
