Val Chmerkovskiy will not be performing on ‘Dancing With The Stars’ next week.
The ‘DWTS’ pro has been suspended from the show for one week over his post on TikTok that was aimed at show judge Carrie Ann Ianaba.
“The well-being of everyone who works on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ is non-negotiable,” BBC Studios said on Saturday in a statement to Deadline. “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.”
As fans saw during Tuesday’s episode (which was the show’s first-ever “Super Bowl Night”), Carrie Ann was very critical of the dance performed by Val’s wife (and fellow ‘DWTS’ pro Jenna Johnson) and her partner Harry Shum Jr. Val was obviously unhappy about what Carrie Ann said about Jenna, so he took to TikTok to write, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.”
This is, of course, in reference to Will Smith (the actor who starred on ‘The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’) slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars after Chris— who was hosting— told a joke about Will’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. Will infamously yelled at Chris to “keep my wife’s name out of your f**king mouth!” (So, essentially, Val is saying he nearly slapped Carrie Ann for criticizing his wife.)
After Carrie Anne was informed of the post, she reposted a screenshot of a story about Val’s veiled threat, writing, “So this is what we are doing now?”
Val soon posted an apology to Instagram.
“I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart for my recent post,” he wrote on Thursday night. “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.”
Val wrote that he “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.
He then apologized to Carrie Ann as well as “everyone who I hurt with my careless post.”
“I will do better moving forward.”
Unfortunately for Val, his social media apology was not enough to keep him in the competition next week. After learning that he has been suspended, Val again took to social media to address the situation.
“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 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,” Val continued. “Please send Carrie Ann, Jenna, and the whole ‘DWTS’ family lots of love during Dedication Night. I’ll be watching and cheering everyone on!!”
According to Deadline, Jenna will dance with pro Alan Bersten next week while Val is suspended.
As of press time, Carrie Ann has not released a statement regarding Val’s suspension.
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