Entertainment

Actions

Sean Spicer to be on upcoming season of 'Dancing with the Stars'

Posted at 12:27 PM, Aug 21, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-21 12:40:24-04

Dancing with the Stars announced the new cast for its upcoming season and while the list was unsurprisingly filled with notable celebrity names, one in particular caught the attention of a lot of viewers.

Sean Spicer, the former White House press secretary for President Donald Trump, is slated to be on the show when it premieres on ABC on September 16.

The cast was announced Wednesday on "Good Morning America."

While jokes about Spicer joining the cast slowly spread across social media, one statement stood out from the rest — a statement from DWTS host Tom Bergeron.

"A few months ago, during a lunch with DWTS' new Executive Producer, I offered suggestions for Season 28," Bergeron said in a statement posted to his Twitter account. "Chief among them was my hope that DWTS, it its return following an unprecedented year-long hiatus, would be a joyful respite from our exhausting political climate and free of inevitably divisive bookings from ANY part affiliations. I left 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.' "

Bergeron goes on to say that he and the show's producers can "agree to disagree" and he's leaving any questions, presumably about Spicer's casting, to the show.

Other comments posted in response to GMA's announcement on Twitter showed that others were not a fan of Spicer being on "Dancing with the Stars."

"Do a season that’s all war criminals next," Amy Brown wrote. Gabe Ortiz added, "Great job normalizing a white supremacist administration, guys."

Chelsea Peretti of "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" fame kept it simple, just stating "no."

Here is who else will be competing on the 28th season of "Dancing with the Stars."

  • Lauren Alaina - Country singer and Season 10 runner-up on "American Idol"
  • Christie Brinkley - Former supermodel and actress
  • Ally Brooke - Pop singer and member of the girl group Fifth Harmony
  • Hannah Brown - The most recent star of "The Bachelorette"
  • Karamo Brown - Culture expert on the Netflix reality series "Queer Eye"
  • Kate Flannery - Actress and former star on "The Office"
  • Ray Lewis - NFL legend and sportscaster
  • Kel Mitchell - Actor and former Nickelodeon star who was one half of "Kenan and Kel"
  • Lamar Odom - Former NBA player, reality star and Khloe Kardashian's ex-husband
  • James Van Der Beek - Actor and former star of "Dawson's Creek"
  • Mary Wilson - Singer and former member of The Supremes