It’s been quite a week for Dancing With the Stars drama, both in and out of the ballroom, with a judge accusing a pair of contestants of utilizing an illegal move during their routine and a professional dancer criticizing the judge in a social media post that got him temporarily suspended from the show.
The controversy began during the Oct. 13 episode of the ABC reality dance competition, dubbed Super Bowl Night, when Harry Shum Jr. and his professional dance partner, Jenna Johnson, performed a samba to “Yeah!” by Usher ft. Lil Jon & Ludacris. At one point, some of the dance troupe members hoisted Shum into the air.
After the performance, judge Carrie Ann Inaba told Shum and Johnson that their routine included a “lift,” which is not allowed in traditional samba.
When Johnson questioned the ruling, Inaba proceeded to read her the definition.
“‘A lift is 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,'” Inaba said before adding: “Yeah, a lift.”
Inaba still gave the pair an 8 out of 10, leading fans to question the point of the judge’s terse commentary.
Johnson later explained that she thought the lift rule applied only to the principal performers, not to backup dancers.
“You know what, it’s hard, because usually when someone’s called out for a lift, it’s when your partner lifts you,” Johnson told Extra after the episode. “But I absolutely hear Carrie Ann. She’s a judge for a reason. She’s gonna do her job, I’m gonna do mine. I’m gonna take the feedback.”
The Instagram post
The following day, Valentin Chmerkovskiy, Johnson’s husband and a professional dancer paired with Jenna Dewan, took to Instagram to express his displeasure with Inaba by referencing what Will Smith told Chris Rock before his infamous slap at the 2022 Oscars.
“You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night,” Chmerkovskiy wrote, a nod to the sitcom character that propelled Smith’s career.
The suspension
On Saturday, BBC Studios, which produces Dancing With the Stars, announced it was suspending Chmerkovskiy for a week, saying in a statement that the “well-being of everyone who works on” the show “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,” the statement said. “As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Alan Bersten — who was eliminated earlier this season after competing with Giada De Laurentiis — will replace Chmerkovskiy as Dewan’s professional dance partner on the next episode, which airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET.
The apology
Chmerkovskiy subsequently apologized for the post that triggered his suspension — the first in Dancing With the Stars history.
“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 said in a statement posted to Instagram. “Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was.”
He added: “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!”
