Sean Spicer, James Van Der Beek and Hannah Brown lead Dancing with the Stars' Season 28 cast

Entertainment Weekly

ABC Entertainment president Karey Burke recently promised a "really good" cast for Season 28 of Dancing with the Stars after skipping the spring season earlier this year. This morning, ABC announced a cast consisting of controversial former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, former Bachelorette Hannah Brown, Dawson's Creek's James Van Der Beek, country music star Lauren Alaina, supermodel Christie Brinkley, Queer Eye's Karamo Brown, The Office alum Kate Flannery, NFL Hall of Famer Ray Lewis, Kel Mitchell from Kenan & Kel, former NBA star Lamar Odom, The Supremes singer Mary Wilson and former member of Fifth Harmony Ally Brooke. Dancing Season 28 kicks off on Sept. 16. On July 24, 2018, Spicer said he would never go on Dancing with the Stars when asked on C-SPAN. "It's no," he said. "Zero on the rhythm. I wouldn't do that to viewers." Critic James Poniewozik found Spicer's casting cynical, adding: "It's amazing the willingness of institutions--whether it's politics, journalism or cheesy reality dance shows--to look at someone who morally soiled themselves and say, 'Eh, what was he supposed to do--turn down the job?' Careerists excuse careerists." Laura Bradley adds that ABC is playing into Spicer's hands: "What could be a more appropriate lead-in to an already bleak 2020 presidential race than a reality-competition franchise embracing an ex-press secretary who spent his time at that job berating and lying to the press about crowd size?" she says. "We knew this day would come, especially since Spicer has reportedly been mulling the prospect for years—but still, you really, truly hate to see it. What’s particularly galling about this move—beyond the fact that a man who helped undermine democracy is now getting a lighthearted TV comeback—is that ABC is, essentially, playing right into Spicer’s hands. He’s been angling for a TV comeback basically since he left the White House in 2017. Given how annoyed some viewers were by Spicer’s 2017 Emmys stunt, it seems fair to wonder if our collective patience will be even thinner now that we’re being asked to watch him learn to cha-cha." ALSO: Last season's Dancing pro champion Sharna Burgess is "sad" she's not returning -- Artem Chigvintsev also won't be back.