UDPATED with Chmerkovskiy response: Val Chmerkovskiy is being suspended from Dancing with the Stars for a week after he posted a controversial TikTok message that seemed to reference Will Smith’s 2022 Oscar slap.
In a statement released today, producer BBC Studios said, “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.”
Chmerkovskiy sparked the controversy the day after the show’s first “Super Bowl Night,” during which judge Carrie Ann Inaba offered a withering critique of the performance of Chmerkovskiy’s wife, DWTS dance pro Jenna Johnson. Wrote Chmerkovskiy in the since-deleted post, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.”
In a response to the suspension, Chmerkovskiy issued a statement through his rep, acknowledging his “poor decision” and “bad judgment,” saying he hadn’t thought through his TikTok comment before posting.
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Chmerkovskiy’s statement reads: “Hi everyone. 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.
“Please send Carrie Ann, Jenna, and the whole DWTS family lots of love during Dedication Night. I’ll be watching and cheering everyone on!!”
Chmerkovskiy’s scrutinized post came in response to Inaba’s on-air critique of a lift move made by Johnson, in which she read the definition of a lift and suggested Johnson should know better.
The Fresh Prince comment referred, unintentionally or not, to the infamous 2022 Oscar-night moment when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock across the face after the latter made a joke about Smith’s wife Jada Pinkett Smith. Chmerkovskiy’s TikTok comment was widely interpreted to suggest, however jokingly, that he had considered taking action similar to Smith’s, though the dancer later said he hadn’t thought that far.
In any case, the joke was apparently lost on Inaba, who on Thursday posted a message on Instagram saying, “So this is what we are doing now?” Her post showed photos of Chmerkovskiy and Smith, and in the text of her message she thanked the New York Post and Entertainment Weekly “for bringing this to my attention.” (See it below.)
After he posted the TikTok, Chmerkovskiy apologized, writing on Instagram, “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.”
Chmerkovskiy’s celebrity partner Jenna Dewan is apparently aware of the pro’s temporary suspension and will dance with pro Alan Bersten next week in a performance dedicated to her mother.