Val Chmerkovskiy Suspended for One Week for Inappropriate Fresh Prince Comment

Val Chmerkovskiy has been suspended from Dancing with the Stars for one week after making an inappropriate comment toward one of the judges last week. Judge Carrie Ann Inaba criticized his wife, Jenna Johnson, and her partner, Harry Shum Jr., for including a lift in their samba routine in her feedback. “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night,” Chmerkovskiy wrote on TikTok on October 14, referencing Will Smith slapping Chris Rock after Rock joked about his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, at the 2022 Academy Awards. Fans were upset by the seemingly violent threat Chmerkovskiy made to Inaba, even if it was intended as a joke.

On October 17, BBC Studios, which produces DWTS, said Chmerkovskiy will not be performing this week with his partner, Jenna Dewan. “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,” a spokesperson told Deadline. Dewan will be performing with eliminated pro Alan Bersten for Dedication Week.

“As you may have seen in the news, I won’t be in the ballroom this week,” Chmerkovskiy said in a statement on Instagram Stories. “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.”

Chmerkovskiy apologized to Inaba for his comment on October 15. “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,” he wrote. “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.”