‘Dancing With the Stars’ isn’t dancing around the elephant in the ballroom. With Val Chmerkovskiy noticeably absent from season 35’s Oct. 20 episode, the competition series’ producers opted to address his suspension at the top of the episode. When cohost Alfonso Ribeiro introduced Chmerkovskiy’s celebrity partner Jenna Dewan as a “star of The Rookie," he also highlighted her pro partner for the week Alan Bersten. After completing the intros for the rest of the cast, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air alum briefly added to the audience, “As you can see, Alan Bersten is with Jenna Dewan because Val is not with us this week.” Chmerkovskiy’s suspension—which sources close to the dance pro told E! News should only last one week, per conversations with the network—was implemented after he made a comment referencing Will Smith’s infamous Oscars altercation with Chris Rock. After judge Carrie Ann Inaba criticized the lift Chmerkovskiy’s wife Jenna Johnson performed with partner Harry Shum Jr. in their Oct. 13 samba, Chmerkovskiy wrote in a since-deleted comment on TikTok that viewers “almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom.” The comment quickly caused online discourse, with many users—and Inaba herself—believing Chmerkovskiy was referencing Smith’s decision to slap Rock mid-ceremony, yelling, “Keep my wife’s name out your f–king mouth!” Soon, the powers that be at ‘Dancing With the Stars’ announced Chmerkovskiy would be sitting out the “Dedication Night” performance. Full Story; https://www.eonline.com/news/1437276/how-dancing-with-the-stars-addressed-val-chmerkovskiys-absence
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