Val Chmerkovskiy is suspended from next week’s Dancing with the Stars after a Fresh Prince jab at judge Carrie Ann Inaba that producers branded inappropriate.
BBC Studios said Oct. 17 that the longtime pro will sit out the Oct. 20 Dedication Night episode. His celebrity partner, actress Jenna Dewan, will dance that night with pro Alan Bersten instead.
The production company moved after Chmerkovskiy posted a TikTok Story following the Oct. 13 Super Bowl Night show. The post referenced a tense on-air exchange involving his wife, pro Jenna Johnson, and Inaba. Entertainment reporting laid out the sequence and the producers’ response.
Chmerkovskiy wrote, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.” The line pointed back to Will Smith’s 2022 Oscars slap of Chris Rock. Inaba answered on Instagram with a short post of her own: “So this is what we are doing now?”
The friction started on the floor. Johnson and partner Harry Shum Jr. danced a samba to Usher’s “Yeah!” Inaba dinged them over what she called an illegal lift and pressed Johnson for more content in the routines.
Inaba read the rule definition on air: “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.” She told Johnson, “I think you need to put more content in your dances.”
Johnson answered live: “I totally understand. I thought it was if you lifted your partner, but totally hear Carrie Ann.” The moment stayed in the family. Val is married to Jenna Johnson. His brother, former pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy, and Maksim’s wife, Peta Murgatroyd, later questioned the consistency of the lift call on “The Viall Files” podcast.
Maksim put it bluntly: “There’s no ‘three other people’ in the rulebook. The point is: Carrie Ann, get some consistency.” Peta said the rule could confuse dancers too. That backdrop sat behind Val’s TikTok Story after the Oct. 13 episode.
BBC Studios did not treat the Fresh Prince line as harmless banter. The company said the well-being of everyone on the show is non-negotiable and tied the suspension directly to the post.
“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.”
USA TODAY sought comment from ABC, the network that airs the series. No network reply appears in the available account. The Hollywood Reporter carried the producers’ statement and the Dewan-Bersten pairing for Dedication Night.
Chmerkovskiy joined the show as a pro in Season 13 in 2011 and has been a fixture ever since. This season he is paired with Dewan. The two had been near the top of the leaderboard after the Oct. 13 performances before the social media blowup shifted the week’s story off the scores.
On Oct. 15, Chmerkovskiy posted an Instagram story apology and said he had already reached out to Inaba directly. He owned the reference and the reach of his platform.
“I also want to apologize publicly as I understand my words affect so many outside of our internal DWTS family. I should have never made the reference that I did and I deeply regret it.”
He added that he holds a fortunate spot as a role model and needs to pause before posting so the message matches who he wants to be. The apology did not stop BBC Studios from pulling him for the Oct. 20 show.
Bersten is free to step in because he and celebrity Giada De Laurentiis were eliminated earlier this season. Dewan keeps her place in the competition; she simply gets a different pro for one themed night while Chmerkovskiy sits.
Open questions remain. The reporting does not say whether the benching ends after Dedication Night or stretches longer. Full screenshots of the TikTok Story beyond the quoted Fresh Prince line are not included. Inaba’s direct reply to the private apology is not detailed past her earlier Instagram reaction.
Even polished TV franchises run on clear rules and basic judgment. When a veteran pro swings at a judge with a slap reference, the producers’ choice to bench him for a week is the plain cost of forgetting that.
