'DWTS' Judges Under Fire, Carrie Ann Inaba Defends
Carrie Ann Inaba addressed Chaz Bono and Maks Chmerkoviskiy’s complaints and spoke in defense of “Dancing with the Stars” fellow judges.
After elimination Tuesday, Bono slammed "DWTS" Judge Bruno Tonioli backstage for saying he resembled “a cute little penguin trying to be a big, menacing bird of prey,” while performing the tango.
Bono accused the judges of praising overweight female contestants for appearing on the show while knocking overweight men.
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During a visit to “Access Hollywood”, Inaba defended the judge: “The scoring has to do with what they’re doing dance-wise. We are able to separate the two.”
Inaba noted that there have been several “sensitive issues” on season 13 of “DWTS”, and that Tonioli’s comments have been “pretty kind in general” this year.
Bono reported that Tonioli’s comments made him feel like “some fat troll dancing with this beautiful woman every week.”
Cher, Bono’s mother, took to Twitter an expressed her offense and disappointment in Judge Bruno’s comments.
“Mean is not funny,” wrote Cher after retweeting, “@KnoewlAngel64: Bruno’s reason, pure selfishness! His only concern was 2b usual funny animated self, AT CHAZ’S EXPENSE!”
Inaba was skipped in Cher’s scathing Twitter posts, and actually received praise from the famed Believe singer.
“Thank u Carrie Ann 4 your gentility u r beautiful inside & out! To the gentleman? I didn’t know who u were b4 which I guess is a blessing,” Cher tweeted.
Chmerkoviskiy was also furious following judges’ comments about his performance Monday. Backstage, speaking to “DWTS” co-host Brooke Burke Charvet, the dancer claimed the show belonged to him.
“With all due respect, this is my show,” said Chmerkoviskiy. “I help make it what it is.”
When asked about the dancer’s comment, Inaba laughed, and said it was a “very awkward moment” and that his reaction was “just taken the wrong way.”
Hope Solo’s 31-year-old partner has since defended his outburst and continued his case against the judges during his Wednesday appearance on “Good Morning America.”
“One thing I’m not going to embrace is pointing fingers and disrespectful remarks… Why are judges allowed to compare us to animals and point their fingers and we can’t say we’re work (sic) and show our opinion,” Chmerkoviskiy said.
The six remaining couples on “Dancing with the Stars” will return to the dance floor on ABC Monday at 8 p.m. EST.
