The ballroom will feel a little emptier next week. Val Chmerkovskiy, one of the most decorated professionals in Dancing with the Stars history, has been pulled from the show’s upcoming episode after a social media post that producers deemed out of bounds — a punishment no pro dancer on the series has ever faced before.
The 40-year-old dancer broke the news himself on Saturday, October 17, telling followers through his Instagram Stories that he would be sitting out the competition’s “Dedication Night” episode. The announcement landed like a thunderclap among the show’s devoted fanbase, which has watched Chmerkovskiy compete, mentor, and lift mirrorball trophies across more than a decade on the ABC series.
At the heart of the controversy is a post Chmerkovskiy shared earlier in the week — one he has since deleted. In it, the dancer appeared to invoke one of the most infamous moments in recent awards-show history — the Oscars slap, the onstage confrontation between Will Smith and Chris Rock at the Academy Awards. According to reports, Chmerkovskiy’s message read, “You almost saw the Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night,” and it was published alongside a photograph of Smith striking Rock during the 94th Oscars ceremony in March 2022, a moment that followed a joke Rock had directed at Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.
The timing and target of the post are what turned a questionable joke into a full-blown backstage crisis. Chmerkovskiy shared it in response to on-air criticism from longtime Dancing with the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba, who had offered pointed feedback on the most recent performance by his wife, fellow pro Jenna Johnson, and her celebrity partner for the season, actor Harry Shum Jr. What may have been intended as a husband defending his spouse was read by many — including the show’s producers — as something far more troubling: a reference that seemed to threaten, however jokingly, the kind of violence the Oscars moment has come to symbolize.
Chmerkovskiy moved quickly to explain himself once the backlash began. In a statement shared on October 17, the dancer said his instinct in the moment had been to stand up for his wife, and that he had reached for what he described as a meme meant to keep his wife’s name out of the conversation — without, in his words, pausing to consider what else that reference might suggest. He stressed that the darker implication was never his intention.
“Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgement,” Chmerkovskiy wrote, acknowledging that the veteran judge had become collateral damage in a dispute she never asked to join. He went on to say that the last thing he wanted was to pull focus from an important week of competition — or from the hard work his own dance partner this season, actress Jenna Dewan, has been putting in on the rehearsal floor.
“Please send Carrie Ann, Jenna, and the whole DWTS family lots of love during Dedication Night,” he added. “I’ll be watching and cheering everyone on!!”
The show’s producers, however, had already made their decision. BBC Studios, the production company behind the American version of the series, issued a firm statement through Deadline drawing a hard line. “The well-being of everyone who works on Dancing with the Stars is non-negotiable,” the company said, calling Chmerkovskiy’s post inappropriate and out of step with the values expected of everyone connected to the program. “As a result, he will not participate in next week’s show,” the statement concluded.
That single-week benching carries enormous symbolic weight. In the two-decade run of Dancing with the Stars, no professional dancer has ever been suspended before — making Chmerkovskiy’s punishment a genuine first in the franchise’s history and a clear signal that the series is willing to sideline even its biggest stars to protect its workplace culture.
The dancer had already tried to make amends before the suspension was announced. On Thursday, October 15, Chmerkovskiy said he personally reached out to Inaba to apologize directly, and he followed that private conversation with a public message of his own. In it, he reflected on the responsibility that comes with a large platform, writing that he understood his words travel far beyond what he called the show’s internal family. He described himself as fortunate to hold a platform and to serve as a role model for some viewers, adding that he needs to treat that influence with greater care — actively pausing to think before posting so that what he shares lines up with the person he is and the person he wants to be for his audience.
“I am truly sorry to Carrie Ann, and everyone who I hurt with my careless post,” he wrote. “I will do better moving forward.”
For viewers, the immediate question is what Dedication Night will look like without one of its marquee names. The themed episode — in which each pairing performs a routine honoring someone meaningful in their lives — is traditionally among the season’s most emotional hours, and Chmerkovskiy’s absence will be felt both on the dance floor and in the ballroom’s energy. His partner Dewan, who has been earning praise for her commitment this season, will now have to navigate the week’s rehearsals and performance without her pro by her side, though the show has not yet detailed exactly how her routine will be staged.
The suspension also arrives at a delicate moment for the series, which has spent recent seasons burnishing its image as a warm, celebratory corner of reality television. A public fallout between a beloved pro, a veteran judge, and the production company is precisely the kind of drama the ballroom usually tries to keep off the dance floor — and the swift, public nature of the punishment suggests producers were determined not to let the story fester.
Also read: DWTS Fans Split as Val Chmerkovskiy's Historic Suspension Shakes Up Dedication Night
Whether the one-week absence marks the end of the matter remains to be seen. Chmerkovskiy’s statement struck a conciliatory tone throughout, and his history with the franchise runs deep — he is a two-time mirrorball champion and one of the show’s most recognizable faces. For now, though, the message from the top is unmistakable: on Dancing with the Stars, no dancer, no matter how decorated, is bigger than the show’s standards.
Dancing with the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and Disney+, and next week’s Dedication Night will go on — with one notable chair empty. Fans hoping for a glimpse of how the ballroom handles the controversy will not have to wait long, and the conversation around what this unprecedented suspension means for the series is only just beginning.
Also read: DWTS Fans Split as Val Chmerkovskiy's Historic Suspension Shakes Up Dedication Night