How Pat Robertson Caused Robert Pattinson to Trend Online

Sammi Burke
·3 min read
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Pat Robertson died earlier today at the age of 93, but it was Robert Pattinson's name that started flooding Twitter in the aftermath.

The Christian Broadcasting Network revealed that Robertson passed away at home earlier today, June 8, surrounded by family, as reported by NPR. You might recognize him from his many years running The 700 Club—a Christian television program—or for his staunch anti-gay, far-right politics, as the controversial figure made such claims as Hurricane Katrina being God's punishment for abortion and "pagans," "abortionists," "feminists," and members of the LGBTQ+ community being responsible for the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

Fans are not likely to mix him up with the 37-year-old Harry Potter, Twilight, and Batman star, and yet, his death led to an influx of tweets about the younger actor—so much so that the Brit began trending on the social network.

It turns out Twitter's been having a bit of a hard time reading today, leading to much confusion across the internet and brief bouts of distress for Pattinson's fans.

"My dyslexic ass thought this said Robert Pattinson," one user tweeted when MSNBC producer Kyle Griffin reported the news, adding a television screenshot to emphasize her initial shock.

And they were far from the only ones bamboozled by the names:

One even blamed the current blanket of smoke from the Canadian wildfires:

Others sat back and reveled in the chaos that the mixup had created:

Others still just played up the bit, criticizing Robertson's extremist beliefs while joking that he was Pattinson's evil twin.

Pattinson remains alive and well—and is likely gearing up to reprise his role as the Caped Crusader for the third move in the Batman franchise.