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Val Chmerkovskiy is thankful his “Dancing With the Stars” partner had someone like Alan Bersten to dance with as the Ukrainian dancer serves his week-long suspension.
“Thank you for stepping in and doing such an amazing job,” he commented on Bersten’s Instagram post Tuesday.
“Jenna looks so good and most importantly happy. You’re my new favorite follow 😉,” Chmerkovskiy added.
The choreographer, 40, also took to his Instagram Stories, writing, “Thanks ❤️,” and urged his followers to vote for Dewan by texting “Jenna to 21523 Ten Times.”
On Oct. 17, Chmerkovskiy was suspended from performing for one week following his controversial social media post referencing Will Smith’s Oscars 2022 slap against Chris Rock.
In a TikTok post, the pro dancer defended his wife, Jenna Johnson, after judge Carrie Ann Inaba gave harsh feedback for including a lift in her and actor Harry Shum Jr.’s samba at “Super Bowl Night.”
Chmerkovskiy responded to the remarks by taking to social media and referring to the 2022 Oscars when Smith yelled, “Keep my wife’s name out your f–king mouth!” after Rock made a bald joke about the actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith.
The “I Am Legend” star, 58, then approached the “Everybody Hates Chris” co-creator, 61, and slapped him onstage.
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In a recent TikTok status, Chmerkovskiy wrote, “You almost saw Fresh Prince enter the ballroom last night.”
He later deleted the comment.
Inaba responded to the comments via her Instagram Stories, writing, “So this is what we are doing now?”
Chmerkovskiy was subsequently suspended for his “inappropriate” remark, a BBC Studios producer said in a statement.
He later admitted that he “made a poor decision to reference the infamous Oscars moment.
“Carrie Ann certainly didn’t deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was,” he wrote, adding that 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.”
Bersten was named as Dewan’s partner for the “Dedication Night” show.
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