Val Chmerkovskiy Apologizes to DWTS Judge Carrie Ann Inaba Following Controversial Comment

Val Chmerkovskiy issued an apology after making a controversial comment, seemingly referring to Will Smith's Oscar slap, following a critique of his wife, Jenna Johnson, by Dancing With The Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba. The DWTS judge also recently reacted to Val's controversial comment after the October 13, 2026 performance. Carrie made a comment on Val's wife and fellow pro, Jenna Johnson, and her dance partner, Harry Shum Jr.'s samba routine.

While the pair scored 33 out of 40, 8 was given to them by Carrie. Jenna acknowledged Carrie's critique, but was visibly surprised when the question was regarding 'a lift'. Following this, Val Chmerkovskiy took to his social media and reportedly shared a post, referring to Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the 2022 Academy Awards. Carrie Ann Inaba reacted to Val's alleged TikTok post, which has since been deleted.

Val Chmerkovskiy apologized to Carrie Ann Inaba, following the judge critiquing the former's wife, Jenna Johnson

After that, Val issued an apology. On his IG story, Val revealed that he personally apologized to Carrie for the 'careless' comment that he made. He further apologized to the public and stated that he should never have made such a comment. In his apology note, Val said he is grateful for the platform and for being a role model to some, and that he should think before posting. Apologizing to DWTS judge and mainstay, Carrie Ann Inaba, Val, in one portion of his note, wrote: