Dancing with the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy drew backlash earlier this week when he jokingly implied in a social media post that he almost slapped judge Carrie Ann Inaba over her critique of his wife Jenna Johnson. He has since apologized.
During Tuesday’s new episode of DWTS, judge Carrie Ann Inaba had a tense exchange with pro Jenna Johnson over a lift in her routine with partner Harry Shum Jr. The moment, in which Inaba read out a definition of what is considered a lift, got people talking online.
Although Johnson ended up accepting Inaba’s critique while discussing the situation with co-host Julianne Hough during the show, her husband and fellow pro Val Chmerkovskiy drew backlash when he wrote in a now-deleted TikTok status, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.”
This was interpreted by fans as a reference to actor Will Smith (who famously starred in The French Prince of Bel-Air) slapping comedian Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars over a joke Rock made about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Many fans spoke out against Chmerkovskiy’s implication that he almost slapped Inaba, with popular DWTS content creator “Coach Jackie” calling the comment “disgusting” and encouraging the dancer to apologize, telling him, “Violence against women is never funny.”
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Chmerkovskiy Apologized to Inaba on Instagram
Carrie Ann Inaba herself responded to Val Chmerkovskiy’s comment about her on Instagram, sharing a post from Page Six about the situation and thanking the publication, along with Entertainment Weekly, “for bringing this to my attention.” She added the comment, “So this is what we are doing now?”
On Thursday, Chmerkovskiy took to his Instagram stories to apologize “from the bottom of my heart” in a written statement. He shared that he had already reached out to Inaba “to apologize directly and personally” for his comment.
“I should have never made the reference that I did and I deeply regret it,” Chmerkovskiy wrote. “I recognize that I am in a fortunate position to have a platform and to be a role model to some, and I need to treat that with more care by actively pausing to think before I post to ensure what I am sharing aligns with who I am, and who I want to be for you all.”
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Val Chmerkovskiy closed his statement with a promise to “do better moving forward.” What do you think of the dancer’s comment and subsequent apology? Let us know in the comments below.
