Given the level of curiosity and news media coverage that has greeted a possible course of action that may have been taken by former President Bill Clinton, you’d think he was still in office, having just decided on a candidate for a vacancy in his cabinet or on the Supreme Court.
But no. On Monday, a spokesman for Mr. Clinton would neither confirm nor deny that the former president had filmed a cameo appearance in “The Hangover 2,” a sequel to the hit Todd Phillips comedy.
In response to an e-mail from my colleague Michael D. Shear, Matt McKenna, the spokesman, wrote: “Sorry you got stuck with this one today, but I don’t have anything for you.”
Over the weekend the Internet was abuzz with reports from Web sites like TMZ.com and People.com that said Mr. Clinton had been filmed in a small role for “The Hangover 2″ while on a trip to Bangkok. (TMZ.com also posted photographs that it said showed Mr. Clinton on the set.)
“The Hangover,” an R-rated comedy about a bachelor party in Las Vegas that goes very, very wrong, was one of the biggest box office hits last year, selling more than $467 million in tickets worldwide. The original film featured an extended cameo by the boxer Mike Tyson, playing a satirical version of himself, and “The Hangover 2″ briefly made headlines amid reports that an amends-making Mel Gibson would pop up in the movie, though Mr. Gibson’s role has since gone to Liam Neeson.
While a raunchy comedy might not be the most dignified place for a politician of Mr. Clinton’s stature to turn up, it would not be entirely without precedent: Senator John McCain of Arizona had a cameo in the R-rated comedy “Wedding Crashers” in 2005, three years before he was the Republican Party’s nominee for the presidency.
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