Mandy Moore Shared A Dark 'This Is Us' Reference On Pete Buttigieg's Husband's IG

Fans are unlikely to forget the show's infamous slow cooker, but Mandy Moore left a This Is Us reference on Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg's husband's Instagram, to remind him about the show's warning against using an old Crock-Pot. On This Is Us, beloved father Jack Pearson, played by Milo Ventimiglia, died from smoke inhalation after an old slow cooker malfunctioned and burnt down the family's home. The tragic moment, which occurred in the 13th episode of This Is Us' second season, as per Variety, made many fans reconsider use of the popular home appliance.

On Saturday, Chasten Buttigieg posted a photo of a vintage Crock-Pot on Instagram. Chasten, who is married to Pete, captioned the photo, "Well it wouldn’t be a weekend in Wisconsin without..."

Moore, who play's Jack's wife Rebecca on This Is Us, noticed the slow cooker in the picture looked eerily similar to the faulty one on her show. She jokingly warned Chasten about the appliance, commenting on the photo, "Careful with that thing" and a string of grimace-face emojis. Many fans of the show replied to the actor's reference, joking that it was "too soon" for this brand of Crock-Pot joke.

Chasten responded to Moore's comment via Twitter, writing: "@TheMandyMoore with the 💯 but also 😭 Insta comment game." He followed that Tweet up with another marveling at the creative comments section, before sharing Entertainment Weekly's post about the article with a simple message: "The chili was delicious."

The teacher has been traveling the United States in support of his husband's presidential campaign, so it's impressive that he found time to enjoy his This Is Us Instagram moment (not to mention the chili). On Thursday, Chasten shared a photo from Hunter College in New York on Instagram, where he spoke to students about politics as part of a campaign event. In early September, he accompanied Pete to New Hampshire, where he continued to participate in campaign events throughout the month. The campaign trail can be chaotic, and Moore's warning to Chasten about practicing slow-cooker safety on the road was clearly appreciated.

Following the dramatic Season 2 episode, Crock-Pot issued an official statement about the safety of their cooking tools, according to Time. The company wrote:

"For nearly 50 years with over 100 million Crock-Pots sold, we have never received any consumer complaints similar to the fictional events portrayed in last night’s episode. In fact, the safety and design of our product renders this type of event nearly impossible."

The cast and crew of This Is Us have also urged fans not to fear their slow-cookers. Showrunner Dan Fogelman assured fans their Crock-Pots were safe on Twitter, writing, "Taking a moment to remind everyone that it was a 20 year old fictional crockpot with an already funky switch? Let's not just lump all those lovely hardworking crockpots together. #ThisIsUs."

In February of 2018, Ventimiglia defended the Crock-Pot on The Ellen Degeneres Show. "I own a Crock-Pot. I love Crock-Pot," Ventimiglia said. "I think there was a lot of misdirected hate at us, at Crock-Pot, as opposed to a faulty slow cooker from the past."

Even so, it seems Moore remains cautious about using a vintage slow-cooker following the series' big fire. If Chasten's a fan of the show, he too might think twice about his using his own classic slow-cooker.