- Val Chmerkovskiy was suspended from performing after making seemingly violent comments toward judge Carrie Ann Inaba in defense of his wife Jenna Johnson, who faced rulebook violation allegations.
- The controversy erupted when Carrie Ann flagged a potentially illegal lift in Jenna and Harry Shum Jr.’s Super Bowl Night routine, prompting Val’s since-deleted inflammatory TikTok response.
- DWTS reportedly plans to briefly acknowledge the drama during Dedication Night, while Alan Bersten temporarily replaces Val as Jenna’s dance partner.
Dancing With the Stars is reportedly going to “briefly” address all that behind-the-scenes drama between pro dancer Val Chmerkovskiy and longtime judge Carrie Ann Inaba ahead of Dedication Night.
After a week of controversy, The Sun’s sources claim Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough “will bring it up briefly” and “not go into details of what happened” while reminding viewers that Alan Bersten is temporarily filling in for Val.
DWTS insiders also added that Carrie Ann will receive a shoutout and also be “given an opportunity to speak if she chooses to.”
“She may say a few words but she didn’t want to get too deep into all of it live on air,” they added. “It’s been really emotional and difficult for her.”
The report hasn’t been confirmed by ABC or DWTS producers, but it comes after Val was suspended for seemingly violent comments he made toward Carrie Ann in defense of his wife, Jenna Johnson.
Carrie Ann alleged that Jenna and her partner, Harry Shum Jr., had violated the DWTS rulebook with a lift during their Super Bowl Night samba routine on October 13. Val then posted a since-deleted TikTok status referencing Will Smith’s infamous slap at the 2022 Oscars, writing, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.”
