Ryan Gosling Sounds Off on "Hey Girl" Meme, Compares Himself to a Dead Pigeon

The Hollywood Reporter asked the Place Beyond the Pines star about his meme

Ryan Gosling has likened himself to a dead pigeon. Oh OK, Ryan Gosling.

While discussing his "Hey Girl" meme (which pairs pictures of the actor with pick-up lines or feminist theory) with The Hollywood Reporter, Ryan Gosling claimed, "I don't think it's really about me. I think it really is sort of like, I'm a pigeon and the Internet is Fabio and it just happened."

If you don't understand the allusion, that's OK: Fabio, the king of romance novels, was riding a roller coaster while promoting an amusement park and suffered an ill-timed encounter with a bird that...well, it exploded in his face.

To correct Ryan Gosling (which we do with the most utmost of respect), the bird is actually believed to have been a goose. Which is a little closer to what he is (most accurate: a swan).

Either way, "I've never said it in my life," he protested.

Hey Ryan, if you're a bird, I'm bird.