Dancing With the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy will not be lighting up the dance floor this week with partner Jenna Dewan. His suspension comes after a tense interaction with judge Carrie Ann Inaba.
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Chmerkovskiy made the announcement via his Instagram Story on Oct. 17, Entertainment Weekly reported.
“Hi everyone. As you may have seen in the news, I won’t be in the ballroom this week,” he wrote.
“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 hate that she was.”
He is married to fellow DWTS pro Jenna Johnson. Inaba criticized Johnson over a “lift” performed during her dance with partner Harry Shum Jr.
According to Johnson, Inaba was “doing her job.”
But Chmerkovskiy wasn’t having it. On Oct. 14, he commented on TikTok, “Puts some respect on her name. Shes trippin talking to her like that.” He followed that up by writing another post, saying “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.”
“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,” BBC Studios, who produces DWTS, said in a statement.
In his Instagram post, Chmerkovskiy 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!!”
This week, Dewan will be dancing with Alan Bersten, who was eliminated in week two.