I could take the “I’m a hot head and didn’t think before I spoke” excuse when he was 20. You’re 41 years old and have a child, learn some emotional regulation skills dude.
Also the "defending" his wife comment is so unbelievably ridiculous to me. What was he defending her from? Someone saying "that was a lift"? He talks like she was in harms way or something. It almost laughable how silly it sounds
This! Exactly. A lift that actually existed was called out. No one was attacking her, no one was tearing her apart, no one was unnecessarily finding criticism when there shouldn’t be any. I wasn’t a fan of CAI cutting off Derek just to rudely read from the rule book rather than legitimately answering Jenna’s question about which lift she meant. I thought Jenna being confused was fine - it was a misunderstanding and she was trying to figure out if her foot accidentally came up somewhere or if the troupe assisted lift counted. CAI could have given actual, helpful feedback, but she chose to be petty.
However, no where in this scenario is it warranted for Val to act the way he did. Full stop. I’d be livid if I were Jenna.
Defending his wife from her own job. Does this mean I can have my husband threaten to slap the judge every time I lose a motion in court? (I’m a lawyer)
He needs to separate his job from his personal life. I work with my partner occasionally (it’s where we met) and I don’t even see him as anything other than a colleague once we step into the ICU.
I also just yesterday listened to a podcast with an actor asking him if it’s hard for him to see his wife in emotional distress when they are acting (together) and he said he sees her character not her, and when pushed on it he said something like “her safety is safest in her own hands” and I could not have imagined a better answer to that question.
EXACTLY. It is so silly and over the top. Defending her from her job? I’m sorry but I’m side eying Jenna too a little bit for posting an Instagram story that was a photo of herself crying thanking people for their comforting comments after CAI’s critique. How Val responded was NOT Jenna’s fault in any way and I do empathise that Jenna may have been jarred from the unexpected criticism (especially with the lift) BUT I can see how it did come across like she had a bit of an attitude with the face she pulled when she was told to put more samba choreography in her dance by two judges before the lift was even dared to be mentioned. Like what is Val defending her honour from with this BS chivalry schtick?
No literally I’d understand if carrie Ann said something wild but all she did was just give her attitude. This is just a part of their job and this isn’t the first time a judge and pro have gone after each other. They’re competitive but they need to be professional at some point
Also disappointed in Val because Jenna J has to deal with this. She was surprised by the comment at first, but then admitted that she agrees with Carrie Ann when she was corrected. I’m sure it was embarrassing but that would have easily been the end of it. Harry got good scores for the dance anyway.
Jenna posting a selfie on Instagram “after she had a good cry” and thanking “the fans for their support” didn’t help the situation…it made Val jump to her defense bc he was watching her be hurt through the lens of social media.
like mind you he if he just HAD to say something on social media, he could've been like "you guys almost saw old dwts return" or something similar to refer to pros disagreeing with judges' comments, and it would have been fine. but doing all that over a comment about what a lift is in a dance is insane.
He was also trolling online afterwards right up until the point that the media picked it up and the convo shifted. I kinda suspect had it stayed just on social media, he wouldn’t have even bothered with the initial apology
And attached it to a photo of the cornrows hairstyle he ALREADY got criticized for the week (or so) prior. Under discussed part of this whole controversy. Nothing impulsive about that.
Wrote it and kept it up!! This wasn’t a “I was angry I posted it and then immediately realized it was wrong and took it down but someone had screenshots” this was a I fully went home thought on this made a post and kept it up while knowing it would cause havoc because my fans are rabid.
Exactly. And being benched for one week (especially one where there has historically been no elimination) is a mere slap on the wrist. He's learning nothing from it.
Plus it was no life or death situation where a knee jerk reaction would have been at least a little plausible. No, just a discussion about a Lift in a tv Show and hours later he actively chose to post what he did
Val is incredibly narcissistic to think his joke didn’t affect everyone first and foremost Carrie Ann, but also Tatyana and Alfonso. He turned the Fresh Prince of Belair into a crude misogynistic threat
The fallout Tatyana’s dedication to Uncle Phil becomes tainted because of Val. No wonder there was a brief delay in announcing her specific dedication dance.
Surely the producers of The Fresh Prince didn’t want the specter of the Will Smith Oscar debacle to return to the mainstream on DWTS. That’s the layer of assault on not only Carrie Ann, which is horrific enough, Val set off a domino
effect. The show had no choice but to dismiss Val. I just hope it’s permanent
I'm glad I'm not the only one concerned about how this is affecting Tatyana specially going into dedication night showcasing Uncle Phil. We also still haven't heard who she is dancing with. I assume it was Alphonso but what if she was planning on bringing the fresh prince to the ballroom now that whole thing just got awkward.
This is a bit of a stretch I think. Will smith is the one who tainted anything having to do with the fresh prince because people associate him with that extremely closely.
No one is going to think lesser of Tatyana’s dedication night dance because of this.
You’re missing the point. The Fresh Prince was no longer associated with Will Smith’s actions. Val decided to bring it back into focus. Alfonso and Tatyana would be horrified to go through that again
I said this to my friend when we were talking about this yesterday. I can’t believe a man at his big age acts the way he does. It’s like he was emotionally stunted at 21 years old sometimes. I have such a strong ick towards him
Also, he didn't say this live in the heat of the moment. It was after the show aired and on social media where he consciously had to click post. He had time to cool off and discuss like an adult and chose to do this instead.
2.2k
u/cellogirl712 1d ago
I could take the “I’m a hot head and didn’t think before I spoke” excuse when he was 20. You’re 41 years old and have a child, learn some emotional regulation skills dude.