Currently suspended Dancing With the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy made a comment about keying judge Carrie Ann Inaba’s car weeks before his being replaced on Season 35’s Dedication Night by Alan Bersten.
The 40-year-old dancer made the remark during a September 29 interview with Entertainment Tonight while discussing Inaba’s critique of his celebrity partner, Jenna Dewan being “too hard.”
As Jenna discussed incorporating Carrie Ann’s advice in her future performances, Val interrupted with a pointed joke about the judge’s vehicle.
“I know where [Carrie Ann] parks her car,” he said, before adding, “I’m just saying, like, if she doesn’t want a different design…”
Jenna laughed at her partner’s comment but reiterated that she intended to learn from the judge’s criticism.
The exchange came after the judges evaluated the pair’s samba to “Africa.” While Val appeared frustrated with the feedback, he acknowledged that Inaba had a point about Jenna’s performance. “[Jenna] is not wrong. Carrie Ann is right,” he admitted. “I guess I was frustrated only because we did address that this week. I thought that [Jenna] did it. So the feedback is correct … last week.”
ICYMI, Val made an unsavory comment about Carrie Ann being the victim of a Will Smith-style slap. After the show’s first-ever Super Bowl Night, Val posted a heated message targeting Carrie Ann by referencing Will Smith’s infamous 2022 Oscars slap.
Many fans of DWTS weren’t thrilled with Val insinuating that he wanted to hit a woman, while others respected him for standing up for his wife. Regardless, Val was benched for an episode for the comment.
