Maksim Chmerkovskiy Blasts Carrie Ann Inaba Over Week 5 DWTS Lift Call, Citing 8 Score
Updated
Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Oct 15
Maksim Chmerkovskiy Blasts Carrie Ann Inaba Over Week 5 DWTS Lift Call, Citing 8 Score
3 articles · Updated · Yahoo! Voices · Oct 15
Summary
Maksim Chmerkovskiy said Carrie Ann Inaba was inconsistent for flagging Jenna Johnson and Harry Shum Jr.’s week 5 samba for a lift, arguing troupe members—not Johnson—helped Shum’s assisted backflip.
On The Viall Files, Chmerkovskiy said Inaba should have limited her critique to the routine’s weak samba content, not invoked the lift rule and then still scored the pair an 8 out of 10.
Jenna Johnson also said she was confused because lifts usually involve one partner lifting the other; after Tuesday’s show, she said she respected the judges and would not intentionally break rules.
The dispute widened as Peta Murgatroyd backed Johnson’s confusion and Val Chmerkovskiy defended his wife online after the couple received 33 out of 40 from the judges.
Inaba has challenged Johnson over lifts before, including in 2019, keeping scrutiny on how Dancing With the Stars applies ballroom rules to troupe-heavy choreography.