'Dancing with the Stars' pulls Val Chmerkovskiy for one week over post about judge

Professional dancer Val Chmerkovskiy will not take part in next week’s episode of ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” after a social media post about judge Carrie Ann Inaba, the show’s producer BBC Studios said on Saturday (US time).

“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,” BBC Studios said in a statement reported by Variety.

During the 13 October episode, Inaba criticised a lift in a routine by Jenna Johnson, Chmerkovskiy’s wife. Chmerkovskiy then posted on his TikTok story, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night,” which Variety said appeared to refer to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. The post was quickly deleted.

Chmerkovskiy apologised to Inaba on Thursday. After the suspension was announced, he wrote on Instagram that he had made “a poor decision” while trying to defend his wife and that Inaba “certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment.”

His celebrity partner, Jenna Dewan, will still compete on Dedication Night, dancing a Viennese waltz to “Unchained Melody” with Alan Bersten, Variety and The Hollywood Reporter reported.