Netflix released their latest big blockbuster movie last Friday, Army of the Dead – a zombie horror movie by director Zack Snyder – but a cameo proved to be far scarier than any of the gore of frights in the film.
Warning: This article does contain spoilers for Army of the Dead.
Around the 17 minutes into the movie, Donald Trump’s former press secretary Sean Spicer makes an unexpected cameo in the movie, appearing in a debate on a news show with Democratic political strategist Donna Brazile where they discuss the zombie outbreak that has taken over Las Vegas in the film.
Spicer’s brief appearance last for just a few seconds but he does have a few lines of dialogue. It is clear he is playing himself as Brazile refers to him by name.
Although Spicer doesn’t say anything remotely controversial or noteworthy in this small scene, the mere memory of him and his time serving Trump conjured up bad memories for many viewers who complained that his presence spoiled the film.
When twitter said that Sean Spicer had a cameo in Army of the Dead, I thought they were kidding https://t.co/JMKrtzisO7— lindsay jump (@lindsay jump) 1621730623
Why is Sean Spicer in Army of the Dead?? (that's not a spoiler, he shows up literally like 12 minutes in)— Will Mavity @Sundance (@Will Mavity @Sundance) 1621652690
Donna Brazile and Sean Spicer in Army of the Dead https://t.co/TIIW8409qx— Carey O'Donnell (@Carey O'Donnell) 1621666707
Oh for fucks sake, Sean Spicer almost completely cancels out the appeal that Tig Notaro added. Even though we hav… https://t.co/8Atvmlha2p— Bob Shields (@Bob Shields) 1621686277
Sean Spicer arguing with Donna Brazile over the existence of zombies and uh nope https://t.co/BTgaANIypn— Rich Fann II (and all that implies) (@Rich Fann II (and all that implies)) 1621641553
there are some disgusting gory moments in ARMY OF THE DEAD, but none more disgusting than the Sean Spicer cameo— Russell (@Russell) 1621621596
I am a fan of a lot of people who worked on Army of the Dead, but I was affronted by the Sean Spicer cameo. And it… https://t.co/NHIn196UeJ— Mary Forrest (@Mary Forrest) 1621645511
I decided to watch Army of the Dead because my love for Tig Notaro knows no bounds, but, uh, y’all should know ther… https://t.co/9mXfmOkHKz— Mx. D.E. Anderson (@Mx. D.E. Anderson) 1621646936
Putting fucking Sean Spicer in #ArmyOfTheDead made me turn it off.— Steven Reeves (@Steven Reeves) 1621607520
So I’m watching Army of the Dead and suddenly became puzzled that Sean Spicer is in this. https://t.co/FpjIQDMSkk— Adam Bednarczyk (@Adam Bednarczyk) 1621767357
Sean Spicer showing up in #ArmyOfTheDeadNetflix https://t.co/MJMaECO4gv— ⭐️ with a Y ⭐️ (@⭐️ with a Y ⭐️) 1621748503
Spicer, who worked for the Trump administration between January and July of 2017, quickly stirred controversy with a series of outrageous press conferences that mostly consisted of him telling blatant lies on behalf of the president. The most notorious of these being was him claiming the crowd size for Trump’s inauguration was the biggest ever when it very clearly wasn’t.
Despite the controversy surrounding him, Spicer has made an effort to improve his public image since leaving the White House. In 2019 he appeared on Dancing With the Stars. Before that, he had also made a surprise appearance at the 2017 Emmy’s which drew a mixed response from celebrities.
That being said, Snyder has a habit of featuring real-life figures from the news world in his films. 2016’s Batman v Superman features a cameo from CNN newsreader Anderson Cooper. That film also featured an appearance from Patrick Leahy, who is the current Senate president and a Batman superfan.