Everything that’s been said about Val Chmerkovskiy’s suspension from Dancing With the Stars
Two former DWTS pros are now beefing
Val Chmerkovskiy was suspended from Dancing With the Stars after responding to a critique Carrie Ann Inaba made to his wife, Jenna Johnson. It’s super confusing, so here’s the full rundown of everything that’s been said about Val’s suspension from Dancing With the Stars.
In the background, when Jenna and Harry Shum Jr. were receiving their feedback and scores, Val could be seen in the background shaking his head after Carrie Ann scored Jenna and Harry with an eight.
The video was reshared on TikTok, with Val taking to the comment section to publicly air his grievances with the DWTS judge. He commented: “Put some respect on her name. She’s trippin talking to her like that.” In a now-deleted TikTok story, he also wrote: “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.”
This has led some to believe he’s referencing the Will Smith slap, and are concerned that Val was trying to insinuate that he was close to slapping Carrie Ann Inaba during DWTS. The TikTok Story has since been deleted.
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Val has now since publicly apologised to Carrie Ann Inaba for his comments towards her, as well as insinuating he was going to slap her. He shared: “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 of our internal DWTS family.
“I should have never 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 who I hurt with my careless post. I will do better moving forward.”
Val was then suspended from the show for a week, with Alan Bersten stepping in for his celeb partner Jenna Dewan.
BBC Studios said in a statement: “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.”
Val then released his own statement following the news of his Dancing With The Stars suspension, saying: “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. “Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was.”
Gleb Savchenko, despite not even participating in this season of DWTS, chimed in too and shaded Alan.
Appearing on a TikTok Live, Gleb went on a real rant about Alan Bersten, saying: “Alan, I think he’s Alan. I mean, he’s just not up to the level of dancing, like, period. [The] quality, the technique. He’s a good dancer, I guess, for TV but if we talk about art? Like creating art? He’s like, eh.”
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As well as ripping Alan Bersten to shreds, Gleb Savchenko also vocally announced his support for Val amid his discourse with DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba.
He shared: “I just watched Jenna and Harry’s samba, and I think it was a really entertaining dance. It was really cool. don’t think it was like an OG samba — it was a bit flat-footed, it was like a hip-hop samba — but if I would be [a] judge instead of Carrie Ann, I would never, ever call out that lift.
“It wasn’t a lift. It was a trick that has been done by true dancers helping Harry. We’ve seen it many, many times. Jenna didn’t lift him, he didn’t lift Jenna … it wasn’t done in the couple, so I think it’s bulls**t,” Gleb continued.
This prompted former DWTS pro Louis van Amstel to jump in on the conversation, in defence of Alan and publicly condemned Gleb.
“Gleb, I’m disappointed that you actually threw Alan under the bus,” Louis said in an Instagram video.
“This show is about making people feel good, about supporting, about changing lives, affecting lives in a way. It has affected all of our lives. There are many reality shows where the drama comes from the cast going at each other and the entertainment is at their expense,” he said. “I don’t believe our show is. Our show is about supporting one another, especially when it comes to the pro dancers.”
“I could open Pandora’s box and come after you, but I’m not. I like you, you’re a great dancer, you did wonderful on DWTS, you’re a wonderful dad, so I’m going to stop here.”