--- title: Sean Spicer Emmys Moment: See Celebrity Reactions description: Celebrities were surprised to see to Sean Spicer take the stage with Stephen Colbert at the Emmys. canonical: https://time.com/4945789/sean-spicer-emmy-reactions/ author: Ashley Hoffman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-09-18T04:46:19.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:47:19.714Z og:title: Watch Celebrities React to Sean Spicer's Emmy Moment og:description: Melissa McCarthy kept her cool — others did not og:url: https://time.com/4945789/sean-spicer-emmy-reactions/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08a08f93b8ea50c0/6988de22e76ad2659b62f2fe/2017-emmy-awards-sean-spicer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: 2017-emmy-awards-sean-spicer og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch Celebrities React to Sean Spicer's Emmy Moment twitter:description: Melissa McCarthy kept her cool — others did not twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08a08f93b8ea50c0/6988de22e76ad2659b62f2fe/2017-emmy-awards-sean-spicer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # See Celebrities' Reactions the Moment Sean Spicer Showed Up at the Emmys > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=7a9c7c3a-b642-4db6-abf5-16ff3b581556&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Sep 18, 2017 4:46 AM UTC  Sean Spicer appears at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Sean Spicer appears at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Phil McCarten—Invision/AP by [Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/) ## Ashley Hoffman Sep 18, 2017 4:46 AM UTC Celebrities were not prepared for the [Spice](http://time.com/4945440/sean-spicer-emmys-donald-trump-season-colbert/). Curious about how many people were watching the Emmys, host Stephen Colbert called in the big guns during his monologue. “Sean, do you know?” he asked. That’s when former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer rolled in to assist him with a report on the crowd. The surprise guest arrived behind a podium like the one in the White House press briefing room. “This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys, period. Both in person and around the world,” he declared with firm conviction. He was making fun of his own [unwavering assertion](http://time.com/4643927/sean-spicer-white-house-donald-trump-inauguration-press-briefing/) about the viewership of Trump’s January inauguration. At the sight of him, several [celebrities](http://time.com/4945718/sterling-k-brown-emmys-speech/) — most notably Melissa McCarthy, who famously played Spicer on _Saturday Night Live_ — had strong reactions. Anna Chumskly of _Veep_ had the most meme-worthy natural reaction. Consider it whenever you need to communicate a combination of awe and disbelief. > [](https://twitter.com/bricesander/status/909571845661192193) Perhaps knowing that all eyes would be on her, Melissa McCarthy, who won an Emmy for her _SNL_ impression of Spicer, kept it cool. > [](https://twitter.com/deanpickering/status/909617528372051968) _Modern Family_ mother-daughter duo Sarah Hyland and Julie Bowen simply could not contain their shock. > [](https://twitter.com/ForksFlash/status/909572855448268800) Keivn Spacey a.k.a. President Frank Underwood of _House of Cards_ and _Veep_ body man Tony Hale were thoroughly amused. > [](https://twitter.com/solamentenic/status/909573010637680643) Watch the moment below. > [](https://twitter.com/JenNimePalumbo/status/909573558216556544) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4945789/sean-spicer-emmy-reactions/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4945789/sean-spicer-emmy-reactions/"},"headline":"See Celebrities' Reactions the Moment Sean Spicer Showed Up at the Emmys","datePublished":"2017-09-18T04:46:19.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:47:19.714Z","description":"Celebrities were surprised to see to Sean Spicer take the stage with Stephen Colbert at the Emmys.","url":"https://time.com/4945789/sean-spicer-emmy-reactions/","keywords":["Newsfeed","celebrities","awards","viral","emmy awards","sean spicer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08a08f93b8ea50c0/6988de22e76ad2659b62f2fe/2017-emmy-awards-sean-spicer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ashley Hoffman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08a08f93b8ea50c0/6988de22e76ad2659b62f2fe/2017-emmy-awards-sean-spicer.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"2017-emmy-awards-sean-spicer","caption":"Sean Spicer appears at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday, Sept. 17, 2017, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.","creditText":"Phil McCarten—Invision/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4945789/sean-spicer-emmy-reactions/","name":"See Celebrities' Reactions the Moment Sean Spicer Showed Up at the Emmys"}}]}] ```