Dancing With the Stars has officially seen the biggest controversy to date, leading one professional dancer to be sitting on the sidelines this week. Here’s everything we know about the situation and why Val Chmerkovskiy won’t be dancing in the ballroom this week.
Val Chmerkovskiy Kicked Out of Ballroom for Social Media Remark About Carrie Ann Inaba
During DWTS‘ Super Bowl Night, Carrie Ann Inaba got on the nerves of Val Chmerkovskiy. Following Jenna Johnson’s performance with Harry Shum Jr. the judge commented on their use of lifts. She even went as far as explaining the definition of lifts to Johnson.
Johnson was clearly confused by Inaba’s commentary. Turns out Johnson’s husband Chmerkovskiy was also confused by the commentary. About a day after the episode, Chmerkovskiy shared a now-deleted post, writing “You almost saw the Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.”
This was in reference to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the 94th Academy Awards after he made a comment about Jada Pinkett Smith. The post lead to Chmerkovskiy being removed from the ballroom for Dedication Night.
“The well-being of everyone who works on Dancing with the Stars is non-negotiable,” BBC Studios said in a statement. “Val’s social media post was inappropriate and does not reflect the values or standards expected of anyone connected with the show. As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show.”
Chmerkovskiy both privately and publicly apologized to Inaba. Alan Bersten will be taking Val’s place in the ballroom this week with partner Jenna Dewan.
Reports State That Chmerkovskiy Was Almost Fired
Behind the scenes, there is even more ongoing drama. Apparently producers are “furious” and the pro had to apologize in order to keep his job.
“In a moment where my instinct was to defend my wife, I made a poor decision to reference a meme to ‘keep my wife’s name’ out of the conversation, without stopping to think through what else that reference could imply, which was genuinely never my intention,” Chmerkovskiy wrote in his public apology. “Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgement, and I hate that she was.”
Val Chmerkovskiy has been suspended for a week after threatening violence against Carrie Ann.He wrote another lame apology saying he was defending his wife. Defending his wife against what exactly. All Carrie Ann did was her job which was critique a dance #dwts https://t.co/X3WbJUWS4s
“The last thing I want is to become a distraction from an important week or from the incredible work my dance partner Jenna Dewan is putting in,” he added. “Please send Carrie Ann, Jenna, and the whole DWTS family lots of love during Dedication Night. I’ll be watching and cheering everyone on!”
Many are wondering if this is the end of Chmerkovskiy in the ballroom. It’s uncertain at this moment whether he’ll return, but a source opened up explaining “he won’t be [fired], no.”
“But producers on the show encouraged him to save face by making an apology to her. He doubled down on the joke at first, and once the backlash got as loud as it did, he had a talking-to and did it to save his job,” a source for The Sun said.
Another insider told the same outlet that Carrie Ann Inaba is still feeling “like she’s walking on eggshells.” The judge is currently standing by what she said to Jenna, and is admittedly unsure how to move forward with Johnson’s husband after this situation.
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Corey Cesare Corey Cesare is Talent Recap's Managing Editor and featured YouTube Host. She has a love of all things pop culture and an unhealthy obsession with celebrities. Corey earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism and Cinema/Screen Studies from the State University of New York at Oswego in 2021. She spends her spare time shooting astro, nature, and portrait photography, and coming up with movie ideas that she hopes to make into a film someday.
