Dancing With the Stars has suspended one of its professional dancers after he made an ‘inappropriate’ comment about a judge.
Val Chmerkovskiy, 40, has been part of the American dance show since its second season and was promoted to a professional role in 2011.
The Ukrainian star is currently partnered with Jenna Dewan for the programme’s 35th season, which also includes Maura Higgins in the cast.
However, he will not be dancing in next week’s Dedication Night episode after a controversial remark referencing Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars, where the Men in Black star told the comedian to keep Jada Pinkett Smith’s name ‘out [his] mouth’.
Chmerkovskiy shared a social media post after judge Carrie Ann Inaba critiqued his wife’s performance, which included a lift forbidden in the samba.
Jenna Johnson, 32, became a pro dancer on DWTS in 2016, and this year she is paired with actor Harry Shum Jr. Johnson married Chmerkovskiy in 2018.
In his TikTok post defending his wife, Chmerkovskiy wrote: ‘You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.’
After bosses became aware of his now-deleted post, they pulled Chmerkovskiy from the roster for a week.
A spokesperson for 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 already has three DWTS wins under his belt, having triumphed with actress Rumer Willis, Olympic artistic gymnast Laurie Hernandez, and actress Xochitl Gomez.
Addressing his suspension, he shared: ‘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 judgement, and I hate that she was.’
He concluded by insisting he’ll still be ‘watching and cheering everyone on’.
The dancer already apologised for what he wrote, penning on his Instagram Story the day after it was shared: ‘I want to apologise from the bottom of my heart for my recent post.
‘I have reached out to Carrie Ann to apologise directly and personally, and I also want to apologise publicly as I understand my words affect so many outside of our internal DWTS family.’
After initially being reprimanded for including a banned lift on October 13, Johnson questioned the judge’s feedback.
This prompted her to define a lift, saying: ‘A lift is — I just need to say it — any movement during which one of the dancers has both feet off the floor at the same time with the assistance or support of their partner.’
Dewan will still dance in the upcoming episode, but she’ll be paired with Alan Bersten, who was eliminated in week three.
They will dance a Viennese waltz to Unchained Melody, dedicated to her mother.
A source told Variety that she ‘is aware’ of the controversy involving Chmerkovskiy and has ‘continued to be a true professional and respectful of the process’.
‘Jenna is a beloved part of the Dancing with the Stars family, and we are grateful for the joy and positivity she brings to the show,’ they added.
Johnson’s dance partner Shum has also spoken out, calling for kindness amid the escalation of the scandal.
In an Instagram carousel, he shared text reading: ‘Reminder that this is a dance show. It is supposed to be joyous. People are suffering in the world already, so let’s celebrate each other with more love.’