Val Chmerkovskiy breaks silence after DWTS suspension

Val Chmerkovskiy is sitting out a week of Dancing with the Stars after his attempt to defend wife Jenna Johnson sparked backlash — and he’s now explaining what went wrong.

The pro dancer, 40, confirmed he won’t be in the ballroom for the October 20 episode after being suspended for one week.

The controversy erupted when judge Carrie Ann Inaba criticised Johnson’s dance, prompting Val to post, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.”

Many interpreted the remark as a reference to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Oscars. Val later apologised, but the fallout still cost him a week on the show.

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In a statement shared with Just Jared, the dancer admitted his reaction was poorly judged.

“Hi everyone. As you may have seen in the news, I won’t be in the ballroom this week,” Val began.

“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,” he continued.

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

He also made it clear he doesn’t want the drama overshadowing the upcoming show.

“The last thing I want is to become a distraction from an important week or from the incredible work my dance partner Jenna Dewan is putting in,” Val added.

“Please send Carrie Ann, Jenna, and the whole DWTS family lots of love during Dedication Night. I’ll be watching and cheering everyone on!!”

Despite Val’s absence, his partner, actress Jenna Dewan, will still compete.