Dancing With the Stars wanted more star power — but they’re getting more backlash. Following the casting announcement on Wednesday, August 21, fans and celebs alike to Twitter with anger about Sean Spicer joining the cast.
“That spicy addition is very problematic,” Yvette Nicole Brown tweeted. Big Bang Theory cocreator Bill Prady wrote, “Sean Spicer lied repeatedly to the American people and literally defended Hitler. @ABCNetwork: ‘Yes, but can he fox trot? Tune in to see!’” Desus & Mero writer Josh Gondelman added, “Appearing on Dancing With The Stars is perfect fit for Sean Spicer’s brand because it allows him to continue his work of twisting words beyond any reasonable definition (in this case ‘star’) for his own morally repugnant ends.”
Tom Bergeron, who has hosted the reality TV series since its 2005 debut, took to Twitter with a statement of his own, admitting that he agreed the casting wasn’t a good choice.
“A few months ago, during a lunch with DWTS‘ new Executive Producer, I offered suggestions for Season 28,” Bergeron, 64, wrote. “Chief among them was my hope that DWTS, in its returning following an unprecedented year-long hiatus, would be a joyful respite from our exhausting political climate and free of inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations. I left that lunch convinced we were in agreement. Subsequently (and rather obviously), a decision was made to, as we often say in Hollywood, ‘go in a different direction.’”
The former America’s Funniest Home Videos host continued, revealing he doesn’t agree with the choice to add the disgraced former White House press secretary to the cast list.
“It is the prerogative of the producers, in partnership with the network, to make whatever decisions they feel are in the best long term interests of the franchise,” he wrote. “We can agree to disagree, as we do now, but ultimately it’s their call. I’ll let it to them to answer any further questions about those decisions.”
In response, DWTS executive producer Andrew Llinares tells Us Weekly, “We’ve got a great and diverse cast. We are excited about the season.”
Dancing With the Stars premieres on ABC Monday, September 16, at 8 p.m. ET.
