BBC Studios suspended Dancing with the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy for one week on October 17, 2026, the first pro suspension in the show's history, after he posted a photo of Will Smith's Oscar slap seemingly aimed at judge Carrie Ann Inaba. The post followed Inaba's critique of his wife Jenna Johnson's lift; Val deleted it, Inaba responded, and he apologized. Alan Bersten danced with Jenna during the suspension, and Gleb Savchenko said on live that Bersten is a good dancer for TV but not up to his level. Val returned to the ballroom ten days later and said he wants Inaba to feel empowered to speak her mind.