Fans Defend Jordan Chiles After Maksim Chmerkovskiy Criticizes ‘DWTS’ Freestyle
Disney/Eric McCandless Reading Time: 2 minutes
Fans are coming to the defense of Dancing with the Stars Season 34 contestant Jordan Chiles and her partner Ezra Sosa after former pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy shared his negative reaction to the pair’s finale freestyle routine.
Maksim Chmerkovskiy Criticizes Jordan Chiles’ DWTS Freestyle
Olympic gymnast Jordan Chiles and her partner Ezra Sosa earned a perfect score of 30 out of 30 for their powerhouse finale freestyle routine set to “Bow Down (Homecoming Live)” by Beyoncé and “Motivation” by Normani — who made a surprise appearance to dance with Chiles.
During a recent episode of former pro Peta Murgatroyd’s podcast The Penthouse with Peta, she and her husband Maksim Chmerkovskiy discussed the Season 34 finale — including Jordan Chiles’ freestyle routine. Murgatroyd had positive things to say about it, while Chmerkovskiy was more critical of the dance.
“It was just a good hip-hop, it was not a good freestyle,” he said, according Entertainment Now. “Freestyle can be anything and I’ve also done big mistakes in the finale thinking that my hip-hop and crump is going to take it down, but it’s not. This was a great hip-hop routine that was not a good freestyle dance for Dancing with the Stars finale trying to win the show.”
Murgatroyd’s one complaint about the routine was that she thought Normani’s appearance took away from Chiles’ spotlight. Chmerkovskiy said he wished Sosa was featured more prominently in the dance.
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Fans Praise Chiles Following Chmerkovskiy’s Comments
DWTS fans made it clear how much they disagreed with Chmerkovskiy after hearing his negative comments. As one user wrote in the comments of the YouTube video, “Jordan swayed me with her freestyle…just sayin. OBSESSED.”
Another user wrote that they had watched Chiles’ freestyle routine “several times” on YouTube, adding, “The choreography was so great it showed off Jordan’s best dance hands down my favorite. This could have been a half time show for the Super Bowl it was that dynamic so great.”
Fans on X (formerly Twitter) also chimed in, with one user calling Chmerkovskiy’s critiques of Chiles’ freestyle “low-key racist” and another calling him a “jackass.” Another fan pointed out that Chmerkovskiy has disliked other hip-hop freestyles in the past — such as Iman Shumpert and Daniella Karagach’s Season 30 routine.
What do you think about Maksim Chermkovskiy’s remarks? Did you enjoy Jordan Chiles’ freestyle routine? Let us know in the comments below.
