When the couples take to the ballroom floor on this week's episode of Dancing with the Stars, one of them will look a little different. The Rookie's Jenna Dewan will be dancing with eliminated pro, Alan Bersten, for Dedication Night instead of her original partner, Val Chmerkovskiy.
Why is that? It's because Chmerkovskiy was suspended for the week after a post he made on social media criticized DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba. After Inaba called pro Jenna Johnson -- Chmerkovskiy's wife -- out for an illegal lift in her dance with partner Harry Shum Jr., Chmerkovskiy referenced actor Will Smith's 2022 Oscars moment where he slapped Chris Rock for joking about Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
"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," Chmerkovskiy said in a statement via his social media. "Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was."
"Val’s social media post was inappropriate and does not reflect the values or standards expected of anyone connected with the show," BBC Studios -- the production company for DWTS -- said in an official statement to NBC News announcing the suspension. "As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show."It appears to be a one week suspension, meaning he would return if Dewan earns enough votes. Dancing with the Stars airs on ABC on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Why was Val Chmerkovskiy suspended for 'DWTS' Dedication Night?
