Last week on “Dancing with the Stars”, judge Carrie Ann Inaba took exception to a lift that was a part of Jenna Johnson and Harry Shum Jr’s Samba – a Latin dance that allows for lifts.
As a result, Johnson’s husband and fellow DWTS Pro Val Chmerkovskiy stood up for his wife saying, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night”; but the social media pot aimed at DWT judge was deemed inappropriate.
Apparently, it was assumed that Chmerkovskiy was referring to the annual Academy Award broadcast in 2022 where Will Smith slapped the face of hot Chris Rock and told Rock to keep his wife’s name out of his mouth.
While the post was deleted by Chmerkovskiy, Carrie Ann Inaba reposted it on her own social media page.
Chmerkovskiy has since apologized for his remarks; saying that, “he apologized from the bottom of my heart for the post”. He also reached out to Inaba to apologize. He added, “I should have never made the reference that I did and I deeply regret it.”
Show producer BBC Studios spoke on the incident saying, “the well-being of everyone who works on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is non-negotiable. 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.”
ABC (the network that carries “Dancing with the Stars) has suspended Chmerkovskiy for one week. Val’s partner Jenna Dewan will be dancing with eliminated pro dancer Alan Bersten.
After learning of his suspension, Chmerkovskiy took to social media again to say, “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. Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was.”
He continued, “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. Please send Carrie Ann, Jenna, and the whole DWTS family lots of love during Dedication Night. I’ll be watching and cheering everyone on!!”