Actor Tom Welling responded with humor after an Instagram photo he posted from a New York City hotel room accidentally exposed him through the window’s reflection.
Welling, 49, posted a photo of the view from his hotel window to his Instagram Stories on Saturday with the caption “Hello, NYCC,” referring to New York Comic Con. Fans quickly spotted that the window’s reflection showed him without clothes. The image reportedly stayed up for at least 10 hours before Welling deleted it, but screenshots had already spread across social media.
Rather than ignore the moment, Welling leaned into it. A fan-made Instagram reel mocked the incident, showing a tourist reacting in mock shock with text reading, “POV you’re a tourist in NYC and see Tom Welling standing at his hotel window on October 10th.” Welling commented on the reel, “Came for the sights.”
His “Smallville” co-star Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor on the show, joined in the joke with his own Instagram Story, jokingly photographing New York skyscrapers with his reflection showing his pants off. Rosenbaum wrote, “Just looking after my boy @tomwelling.” Welling reposted the Story.
On Sunday, Welling returned to Instagram with a photo from his New York Comic Con appearance, writing, “Hope to see you all today at @newyorkcomiccon. Come say hi! #25yearsofsmallville.” He did not address the earlier incident directly, but fans used the comment section to keep the joke going.
“Just be careful with your camera bud,” one fan wrote. Another commented, “I mean he’s super man of course he is going to be super. he didn’t get to wear the tights to show it off.”
“Smallville” premiered on the WB in 2001 and ran for 10 seasons before ending on the CW in May 2011. On Sunday, Welling, who played Clark Kent, reunited with Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang) and Erica Durance (Lois Lane) for a panel marking the show’s 25th anniversary.
