Carrie Ann Inaba Hate on Dancing With Stars

Dancing With Stars judges face backlash over lift calls.

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Oct 21, 2026

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Carrie Ann Inaba Hate on Dancing With Stars

Dancing With Stars judges face backlash over lift calls.

In brief

Dancing With Stars judges face backlash over lift calls. Carrie Ann Inaba faces criticism for calling out illegal lifts on Dancing With Stars despite her consistent point deductions. Originally reported by Cosmopolitan.

Carrie Ann Inaba's lift criticism

Carrie Ann Inaba's lift criticism

Carrie Ann Inaba started criticizing illegal lifts on Dancing With Stars during season 5 when she called out pro Tony Dovolani for an illegal lift.

“Because she does not know anything about ballroom, I figured she should at least read the rule book”

Tony Dovolani's response

Tony Dovolani presented Carrie Ann with a ballroom rule book the following night after she criticized his illegal lift.

“I highlighted the parts I wanted her to read, including the description of what a lift is”

Carrie Ann's point deductions

Carrie Ann is the only judge who consistently calls out illegal lifts and deducts points for them on Dancing With Stars.

“I am the only one who takes off a point for lifts, which I think is fair, because if we all did, the contestants’ scores would suffer greatly for something that is not that serious of a crime”

Artem Chigvintsev's reaction

Artem Chigvintsev's reaction

Artem Chigvintsev accused Carrie Ann of being a bitter ex after she deducted a point from his illegal lift during season 29.

“At this point, it starts being a little personal”

Val Chmerkovskiy's criticism

Val Chmerkovskiy called Carrie Ann's ability into question after she flagged an illegal lift during his wife Jenna Johnson’s samba.

“I don’t know what Carrie Ann is saying at all”

Val's online bullying

Val Chmerkovskiy threatened physical violence against Carrie Ann with a meme and joked about where she parks her car after she flagged an illegal lift.

“I would give it a different design if Carrie Ann continued to be too hard on my partner”

Carrie Ann's fear

Carrie Ann's fear

Carrie Ann revealed she feels scared by online criticism and shrinks during the season after week five or six.

“It’s made me scared, it’s not so much that I get hurt as I get afraid”

Dedication Night feedback

Carrie Ann delivered feedback for Maura Higgins and Mark Ballas’s paso doble, pointing out the lift but being sheepish and apologetic.

“Who cares about lifts? It was a Dedication Night routine honoring Robert’s late father, Steve Irwin”

Fan backlash

Fans accused Carrie Ann of being inconsistent, tougher on female dancers, and having poor motives and tone after she called out illegal lifts.

“It’s really just not that deep”

What matters most

Carrie Ann Inaba faces criticism for calling out illegal lifts on Dancing With Stars despite her consistent point deductions.

Read the original on Cosmopolitan

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