Donald Glover recruits Billy Dee Williams, Rose McGowan, Carole Baskin and more for meta marketing campaign: 'Officially part of the Swarm now'
Swarm, the Prime Video show about a woman's obsession with a celebrity not unlike Beyoncé, and how it drives her to the dark side, knows that the power of celebrity and the ability to influence is everything when trying to sell something.
So co-creators Donald Glover and Janine Nabers's show enlisted some familiar faces to talk up their show — only not as a show, but as a real thing. In them, dozens of celebs, including Billy Dee Williams, Gabby Douglas, Rose McGowan and more referred to "the Swarm," the seriously dedicated fans of fictional pop star Ni'Jah who will mobilize to protect her at a moment's notice.
Cameo confirmed that the participants are all stars from their platform booked through Cameo for Business, which creates celeb-driven marketing content. (Rather than, say, a fun custom video in which your sister's favorite actor gives her a birthday shoutout.)
Glover shared video of the stars speaking directly to their fans, insisting that they're part of the Swarm, in his Instagram Story this week.
Cameo also provided some of the footage to Yahoo Entertainment:
Billy Dee Williams
The Star Wars actor recited a prayer that he would be able to snag tickets to a Ni'Jah concert.
Rose McGowan
McGowan declared that, after "a lot of self-reflection," she's "officially part of the Swarm now."
Gabby Douglas
"I just, I just respect the Swarm so much, and what they are doing," retired Olympian Gabby Douglas said. "And I would never say anything against them or their queen."
Cedric the Entertainer
Seriously, Cedric the Entertainer is sorry! He said some things he regrets, but he's begging the Swarm to leave his family alone.
Carole Baskin
Hey all you cool cats and kittens, Tiger King's Baskin dropped in to show some love to "the best fan base out there," whom she appears to have annoyed at some point.
Erin Andrews
In case you didn't know, the sportscaster said in her video, she is part of the Swarm. No one wants to get on their bad side.
Along with the show's star-studded marketing campaign, the story of fandom gone wrong is also packed with celebrity guest appearances from Billie Eilish (making her acting debut), Paris Jackson, Rory Culkin, Cree Summer, Kiersey Clemons, Damson Idris and internet personality Rickey Thompson. The regular cast members include Dominique Fishback (The Deuce, Judas and the Black Messiah) and Chloe Bailey (Grown-ish).
Behind the scenes, former first daughter Malia Obama co-wrote one of the episodes. Nabers described some of her pitches as "wild as hell" and "so good and so funny." Obama is "an incredible writer," Nabers told ET. "She brought a lot to the table… She's really, really dedicated to her craft."
Earlier this week, the much talked about show was garnering attention for a different reason. Glover told Vulture how he'd prepped Fishback to prepare for her role — the main character of Dre — and some people cited it as disrespectful.
Yahoo Entertainment has reached out to reps for Glover and Fishback.
For her part, Fishback seems excited about the show. Bailey's post about its release included a cute video of the co-stars hugging after seeing it advertised on a billboard. "I absolutely love you, you are a terrific scene partner and beautiful person. My sister forever," Fishback commented.
All seven episodes of Swarm are available now on Prime Video.
