Krista Vernoff
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty ImagesThe showrunner of one of ABC’s biggest series has joined Dancing With the Stars host Tom Bergeron in criticizing Sean Spicer’s casting on the long-running reality show.
Grey’s Anatomy executive producer Krista Vernoff (who also runs Grey’s spinoff Station 19) tweeted Thursday that she “deeply abhor[s]” the decision to include Donald Trump’s former White House press secretary in the show’s 28th season. She also tagged Disney CEO Robert Iger in her plea to reconsider the decision, writing, “This man lied daily, to our faces” and “It’s not too late to change this plan.”
When the cast was announced Wednesday, DWTS host Bergeron expressed his concern with Spicer’s casting, noting that he had told the show’s executive producer, Andrew Llinares, prior to the season, that he hoped the show “would be a joyful respite from our exhausting political climate and free of inevitably divisive bookings from ANY party affiliations.”
Tim Doyle, the creator of The Kids Are Alright and new showrunner of The Goldbergs spinoff Schooled, voiced support for Vernoff on Twitter late Thursday.
Spicer told The Hollywood Reporter Thursday that he hopes the show will be a “politics-free zone.”
“My hope is that at the end of the season, Tom looks back on this and realizes what a great example it was of being able to bring people of really diverse backgrounds together to have fun with each other, engage in a real civil and respectful way and maybe show millions of Americans how we can get back to that kind of interaction,” Spicer said. He added that he had cordial conversations with other castmembers and the show’s professional dancers when they met prior to Wednesday’s announcement.
“We all seemed to hit it off,” Spicer told THR. “The criticism wasn’t coming from the cast or the pros — obviously Tom had his opinion — but it’s from the outside.”
Read Vernoff’s tweet below.
I deeply abhor this decision by the company I work for and truly love.
This man lied daily, to our faces, and made a mockery of our country. This is not cause for celebration or celebrity.
It’s not too late to change this plan. Please @DancingABC @abc @RobertIger https://t.co/OAlvpgSpJg
— Krista Vernoff (@KristaVernoff) August 22, 2019
