Val Chmerkovskiy under fire as he’s accused of threatening to slap DWTS judge over wife’s low score

Val Chmerkovskiy has been fiercely slammed online for allegedly threatening to slap DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba over his wife Jenna Johnson’s low score.

Chmerkovskiy, 40, was left unamused after Inaba, 58, critiqued Johnson’s performance with partner Harry Shum Jr during this week’s episode.

He was seen on camera looking outraged as Inaba bashed the duo for including a ‘lift’ during their samba to the song Yeah! by Usher, which is against the rules.

Afterwards, Chmerkovskiy shared a now-deleted post to his TikTok Story which said: ‘You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.’

While he didn’t specify what he meant by the comment, many fans thought he was referring to Fresh Prince star Will Smith’s infamous Oscars slap.

Back in 2022, Smith stormed the stage during the ceremony and slapped host Chris Rock across the face after the comedian made a joke about Smith’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. 

Chmerkovskiy faced immense fury for the post, as many fans took to X to bash him.

‘Um so either Val is insinuating that he wanted to slap Carrie Ann, throw her out or he’s just chose a random black show to characterize himself being aggressive,’ one user wrote. ‘Any of these options shows exactly what kind of person he is.’

‘I definitely think he’s trying to reference the Will Smith slap thing … it’s gross on so many levels,’ another added.

‘While Carrie Ann’s inconsistency with judging is something I think should be called out and discussed, nothing she has done has warranted threats of any kind,’ someone else chimed in. ‘I believe this is a threat.’

‘Absolutely nothing that happened last night warrants this reaction. Who the f**k does he think he is?’ read a fourth post.

A fifth said: ‘A man saying this towards a woman, even as a “joke,” will never ever sit right with me.’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Chmerkovskiy for comment.

Inaba responded by posting a screenshot of an article covering Chmerkovskiy’s comment to Instagram and writing: ‘So this is what we are doing now?’ 

During the episode, Inaba noted that while she ‘loved every minute of’ Johnson and Shum’s performance, it didn’t fit the samba.

‘If that was a halftime show, amazing, I loved every minute of it. But it’s a samba,’ she said. 

‘And there was a lift,’ she added, to which Johnson replied: ‘A lift?’ 

‘Yeah it was a lift,’ Inaba said, before reading from a piece of paper that said: ‘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.’ 

According to reports, lifts are not allowed in traditional samba. 

Inaba ultimately gave them a score of eight. 

Johnson was unamused by the response and shook her head.

Chmerkovskiy was also seen in the background looking furious.

Afterwards, Chmerkovskiy shared a message to Inaba in a TikTok comment posted under a video of the moment.

‘Put some respect on [my wife’s] name,’ he wrote, adding: ‘She’s trippin’ talking to her like that.’