If you turned on Dancing with the Stars last night thinking you’d hear something about Val Chmerkovskiy’s suspension, you were fresh out of luck. The show barely addressed Val being benched—other than vague references to things being “emotional.” And apparently this was very intentional.
“The cast has all been told to not post about this,” a source tells The Sun. “They were specifically told to not bring it up directly, not to mention any of the names involved, and not to even make jokes or repost memes about what’s going on.”
The source added that “Producers are out of their depths trying to navigate this and every contestant and pro was warned: don’t pile onto the drama. It goes for both every contestant and every pro.”
Val was suspended after posting a since-deleted TikTok saying, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.” His post was in response to judge Carrie Ann Inaba criticizing Jenna Johnson’s choreography last week. BBC Studios released a statement confirming Val’s suspension, telling Deadline, “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.”
Val also released a public apology, saying in part, “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 judgement, and I hate that she was.”
Val is expected back in the ballroom next week for Horror Movie Night. Stay tuned for that!