Credit: Dave Starbuck/Future Image/Cover Images, Roger Wong/INSTARimages
Season 35 of Dancing with the Stars has been airing for slightly over a month now.
While contestants frequently make the news for their dances and when they get eliminated from the show, dancing pro Val Chmerkovskiy, 40, has recently made headlines for a comment he made about judge Carrie Ann Inaba, 58.
During Super Bowl Night, which took place on the show earlier this month, Carrie Ann called out Val’s wife, Jenna Johnson, 32.
Specifically, Jenna was dancing with Harry Shum Jr. and was criticized for a lift in their dance by Carrie Ann.
When Jenna appeared to be surprised by what Carrie Ann said, Carrie Ann read the definition of a lift out loud.
“A lift is – I just need to say – 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 stated.
In comments on a TikTok post, Val came to his wife’s defense, noting Carrie Ann was “trippin talking to her like that.”
“You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night,” he said in another message, referring to when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars and told him to keep his wife Jada Pinkett Smith‘s name “out” of his “f*cking mouth.”
“So this is what we are doing now?” Carrie Ann replied last Thursday.
Val did end up apologizing, writing, “I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent post. 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.”
“I am truly sorry to Carrie Ann, and everyone I hurt with my careless post. I will do better moving forward. ❤️,” he added.
Due to his controversial comment about Carrie Ann, Val ended up getting benched for one week from the show.
“The well-being of everyone who works on Dancing with the Stars is non-negotiable,” a BBC Studios spokesperson said in a statement shared by US Magazine on Saturday. “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.”
Val then took to his Instagram Story to issue his own statement about his benching.
“Hi everyone,” he began. “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. Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was.”
“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 elaborated. “Please send Carrie Ann, Jenna, and the whole DWTS family lots of love during Dedication Night. I’ll be watching and cheering everyone on!!”
Val has been dancing with Jenna Dewan, 45, on the show, but in his absence, dancing pro Alan Bersten, 32, will dance with her.