Who would have guessed that ABC’s Dancing With The Stars would actually be this entertaining so soon?! The drama has me quickly changing the channel just to make sure I don’t miss any heated judge/contestant spats! After Monday’s heated exchange, judge Carrie Ann Inaba has added fuel to the flames between herself, Maksim ‘Max’ Chmerkovskiy and Len Goodman.
Carrie Ann Inaba tried practicing some damage control as she attempted to defend fellow judges during a visit to Access Hollywood this past Wednesday. On the subject of Chaz Bono, who told Good Morning America during a post-elimination interview that he took offense when Bruno Tonioli’s referred to him as “a basketball, a penguin, and Ewok,” and thinks the show treats overweight men differently, Carrie stated;
“The scoring has to do with what they’re doing dance-wise. We are able to separate the two.”
Inaba also added that although there have been a few “sensitive issues” this season; she believes Bono was judged fairly adding Tonioli’s comments were not meant to be “negative or derogatory”.
Inaba considered the exchange between Len Goodman and Chmerkovskiy, as a “very awkward moment which was taken the wrong way” and chuckled at Maks’s declaration that it’s his show by stating;
“That is what I came here to say.”
However, Inaba didn’t exactly appear to be the peace making angel she was on Access Hollywood when she took to Twitter the previous evening. Carrie chastised Chmerkovskiy regarding his heated exchange with Goodman.
“FYI: Everyone has different abilities on DWTS. Every journey is unique to each contestant and everyone’s ten looks slightly different. Another FYI: I forgive you because you don’t know better- scores are locked in before we speak. So we have scored before any words spoken.”
During her interview, she attempted to somewhat retract her tweet stating;
“I was a little bit aggrieved at the time, but now I’ve slept on it, and I’m sure Maks has slept on it.”
Maksim did sleep on it, but it appears he slept like a baby because according to him, he had nothing to apologize for.
While interviewing with ABC’s Good Morning America the morning following his tirade, Maksim made it clear he had no intention of bowing his head in shame.
“I definitely have nothing to apologize for. I have nothing to apologize for to Len, and certainly not to Carrie Ann. She can make all the faces she wants.”
He continued:
“The last time I apologized was to my grandma when she was dying of cancer,”
Max did acquiesce, somewhat, when he stated later that he’s a passionate dancer which occasionally causes his words to come out skewed.
“I love the show. I love the fans. I love every aspect of it and that was the whole idea behind what came out wrong with “my show.”
He added;
“When I got on this show six years ago I treated it as a dance competition and everyone here tried really hard to change my mind and say ‘Look Maks, it’s a show, there are other elements to it,’ so I embraced it. But one thing I’m not going to embrace is pointed fingers and disrespectful remarks.”
In other words, unless Inaba has some debilitating disease under wraps, it’s best she not hold her breath waiting on an apology from Mr. Chmerkovskiy.
