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Dancing With the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy will sit out the next live show following his controversial comment about judge Carrie Ann Inaba.
“The well-being of everyone who works on Dancing with the Stars is non-negotiable,” a spokesperson for BBC Studios said in a Saturday, October 17, statement shared with Us. “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, 40, issued a statement of his own on Saturday.
“Hi everyone. As you may have seen in the news, I won’t be in the ballroom this week. 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,” he told Us in a statement. “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 partnerJenna 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!!”
Tensions rose during Super Bowl Night earlier this month after Inaba, 58, called out Chmerkovskiy’s wife and fellow pro, Jenna Johnson, for a lift in her samba with Harry Shum Jr. Johnson, 32, appeared surprised by the critique, prompting Inaba to read an exact definition of what constitutes for a lift.
“A lift is — I just need to say it — any movement during which one of the dancers has both feet off the floor at the same time with the assistance or support of their partner,” she said.
While Johnson insisted she understood Inaba’s perspective and would take the feedback, her husband quickly came to her defense.
“She’s trippin talking to her like that,” he wrote in the comments section of a TikTok video about the routine.
In a separate social media message — which was later deleted — Chmerkovskiy added, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.” The comment was in reference to when Will Smith slapped host Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, famously shouting, “Keep my wife’s name out of your f***ing mouth.”
Inaba caught wind of the snide remark, firing back in an Instagram post of her own. “So this is what we are doing now?” she wrote on Thursday, October 15.
As the back and forth went viral, some fans called for DWTS to take action. Chmerkovskiy eventually issued a public apology
Deal of the Day
“I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent post,” he wrote. “I have reached out to Carrie Ann to apologize directly and personally and I also want to apologize publicly as I understand my words affect so many outside our internal DWTS family. I should never have made the reference that I did and I deeply regret it. 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.”
Chmerkovskiy continued, “I am truly sorry to Carrie Ann, and everyone I hurt with my careless post. I will do better moving forward. ❤️.”
Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
