Val Chmerkovskiy Suspended From ‘DWTS’ Over Carrie Ann Inaba Slap Joke

• Val Chmerkovskiy will not dance on Dancing With the Stars on Tuesday, Oct. 20. BBC Studios, which produces the show, called his social media post about judge Carrie Ann Inaba “inappropriate.”
• The post, since deleted, read “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night,” a nod to Will Smith’s 2022 Oscars slap, after Inaba flagged a lift in his wife Jenna Johnson‘s samba.
• His celebrity partner, Jenna Dewan, will dance Dedication Night with pro Alan Bersten.

Val Chmerkovskiy is out of the ballroom for a week. The Dancing With the Stars pro, 40, will miss Dedication Night on Tuesday, Oct. 20, after a TikTok post that referenced Will Smith slapping Chris Rock, written days after judge Carrie Ann Inaba criticized his wife’s routine.

“The well-being of everyone who works on Dancing with the Stars is non-negotiable,” BBC Studios said in a statement on Saturday, Oct. 17. “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.”

What did Val Chmerkovskiy say about Carrie Ann Inaba?

It started on Super Bowl Night, Tuesday, Oct. 13. Jenna Johnson, 32, and her partner, Harry Shum Jr., danced a samba to Usher’s “Yeah!” and scored 33 out of 40. Inaba gave them an 8 and said the routine had “a lift.”

On Wednesday, Chmerkovskiy commented on TikTok: “Puts some respect on her name. Shes trippin talking to her like that.” He then posted, over a photo of Smith’s slap at the 2022 Academy Awards: “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.”

Smith slapped Rock on stage after a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, and shouted at him to keep her name out of his mouth. Val’s post came down.

On Thursday, Oct. 15, Inaba, 58, shared a screenshot of a story about it on Instagram with the line: “So this is what we are doing now?”

Chmerkovskiy apologized the same day on Instagram, saying he had reached out to Inaba “directly and personally.” He wrote: “I should have never made the reference that I did and I deeply regret it.”

Why did Carrie Ann call it a lift?

Lifts are not allowed in the samba under the show’s rules; they are saved for styles like the freestyle. Inaba read the 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.”

The move in question was a backflip in which two members of the dance troupe, not Johnson, helped flip Shum. “Usually when someone’s called out for a lift, it’s when your partner lifts you,” Johnson told Extra after the show. “But I absolutely hear Carrie Ann.”

Val’s brother, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, took the same side on The Viall Files podcast on Thursday. “There’s no ‘three other people’ in the rulebook,” he said. “The point is: Carrie Ann, get some consistency.”

What did Val say about his suspension?

He posted a new statement on his Instagram Story on Saturday. “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,” he wrote.

Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was.

Val Chmerkovskiy, on Instagram

He asked fans to send “Carrie Ann, Jenna, and the whole DWTS family lots of love during Dedication Night” and said he would be watching. Inaba had not commented on the suspension as of Saturday night. People reported it is the first time a pro has been suspended in the show’s history.

Who is dancing with Jenna Dewan this week?

Alan Bersten. He was eliminated in week 3 with chef Giada De Laurentiis and steps in for one week with Jenna Dewan, whose Dedication Night dance honors her mother. The suspension is for one episode, so Chmerkovskiy is set to return the following week if the couple survives the vote.

Dewan is still in the competition, and fans can keep voting for her during Tuesday’s live show; here is how to vote on Dancing With the Stars. Shum, meanwhile, posted his own message on Friday: “Reminder that this is a dance show. It is supposed to be joyous.”

More from this season: the full Dancing With the Stars season 35 cast and who got eliminated this week. More in TV & Reality.

— Bruno Monteiro

Sources: BBC Studios statement, Oct. 17, 2026; Val Chmerkovskiy on TikTok (deleted) and Instagram, Oct. 14–17; Carrie Ann Inaba on Instagram, Oct. 15; Jenna Johnson, to Extra, Oct. 13; Maksim Chmerkovskiy on The Viall Files, Oct. 15; Harry Shum Jr. on Instagram, Oct. 16; Dancing With the Stars (ABC), Oct. 13 broadcast; Deadline (Greg Evans); TVLine (Kimberly Roots); Entertainment Weekly (Daysia Tolentino, Leigh Blickley); People (Kimberlee Speakman, Yamillah Hurtado). Photos and video: Sherri, Good Morning America (ABC News), Dancing With the Stars (ABC), CBS Los Angeles, The Jennifer Hudson Show, Extra.