Valentin Chmerkovskiy was suspended for one week from Dancing with the Stars after an Instagram post referencing Will Smith’s 2022 Oscars slap crossed the line on Dancing with the Stars dedication night. The move forces Jenna Dewan into a last-minute partner switch, with Alan Bersten set to take over on the next episode.
Saturday’s Studios decision
Saturday’s announcement made the punishment concrete: Studios said Chmerkovskiy would not participate in next week’s show and called the well-being of everyone who works on the program “non-negotiable.” The company added that his social media post was inappropriate and did not reflect the values or standards expected of anyone connected with the show.
A one-week suspension is a narrow penalty, but it still changes the lineup immediately. Alan Bersten was set to replace him as Jenna Dewan’s professional dance partner on the next episode, scheduled for Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, so the show has already had to redraw one of its pairings before the broadcast window opens.
The post and the reply
The dispute began after Carrie Ann Inaba criticized a routine that she said included a lift. She defined it on the Oct. 13 episode as “A lift is 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.” Inaba gave Harry Shum Jr. and Jenna Johnson an 8 out of 10, while Johnson said she thought the rule applied only to the principal performers and not to backup dancers.
The following day, Chmerkovskiy posted, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.” His reply drew the suspension on Saturday, and Studios framed the decision as a standards issue, not a debate about the choreography itself. The company’s position left the show with no room to treat the post as a harmless joke once the slap reference entered the conversation.
Jenna Dewan’s changed pairing
Jenna Dewan now has the most immediate operational fallout from the suspension. Bersten’s assignment gives the production a clean swap for Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET, but it also turns one episode into a test of how quickly the show can absorb a disciplinary action without losing its performance schedule.
Chmerkovskiy later apologized on Instagram, saying, “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 added, “Carrie Ann certainly didn't deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was,” and said, “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.”
That leaves the one question the show has not answered on the page: whether Chmerkovskiy returns after the one-week suspension or whether the replacement becomes a longer reset for Dewan’s run.
