After Dancing with the Stars contestant Karamo Brown faced backlash for voicing his support of castmate Sean Spicer on social media; Spicer said he felt bad. There is no shortage of Dancing with the Stars fans who were not in favor of Spicer's inclusion on the show, and Brown's attempt to smooth over the vitriol with a positive post only ended up backfiring.
When Spicer was announced on the cast during a live reveal on Good Morning America, his return to television was greeted with disdain from many viewers. The former White House secretary has had a tough time trying to renew his public image, and both he and ABC likely knew that he wouldn't be able to waltz onto the Dancing with the Stars stage without some uproar ensuing from the decision to introduce him as part of a star-studded cast. While host Tom Bergeron made it clear soon after the reveal that he did not sign off on bringing Spicer on stage, Brown decided to go in a different direction. To be clear, Brown didn't say he aligned with Spicer politically. He posted on Twitter that he thought it would be a good opportunity to sit down with Spicer and try to work through their opposing beliefs. Extending the olive branch was too much for some on social media who felt Spicer didn't deserve the attention, and Brown ended up deleting his Twitter as a result of the angry comments directed towards him.
Likely to the chagrin of some fans, Spicer and Brown did end up having that conversation, according to Us Weekly. Spicer said, “He and I had a really fun talk - not about politics, just about getting to know each other and how excited we are about that opportunity." The politician stated that he knew that Brown's intentions were good when he wrote about wanting to meet with Spicer. He said he felt bad for some of the negativity thrown Brown's way because the Queer Eye star was simply trying to foster a positive dialogue.
Spicer continued, "We need more people like him as opposed to fewer. It was a shame that people were so nasty to him.” Promising to keep politics away from the dance floor, Spicer expressed his interest in learning a new skill and trying something different as the impetus to join the series. He didn't know who his pro dancing partner would be yet when he spoke to Us Weekly, but he does know he needs all the help he can get because, as he put it, “I am a horrendous dancer."
Generally, the opinions tossed about on Twitter do not reflect the way we interact in the real world. In our daily lives, people cross paths with other people who have wildly different political and moral views without even knowing it. An argument can certainly be made that Spicer shouldn't have been on this season of Dancing with the Stars because of the unnecessary sideshow it has created. But it's still unfair to shame Brown for being willing to merely talk - not vow to agree with or endorse, but simply talk - to someone who may have an extremely different perspective on life than he does. By attacking Brown for being willing to address conflict head on rather than avoid it, it only exacerbates the issue and moves the dialogue further from the original problem that ignited the controversy in the first place.
Dancing With The Stars premieres on September 16 at 8 p.m. on ABC.
Source: Us