'DWTS' judge Carrie Ann Inaba can't get out of her own way as another scandal develops
'Dancing with the Stars' viewers once again raised questions about Carrie Ann Inaba's impartiality, this time for one of the most outrageous moments from Tuesday's semifinals. Inaba, who has served as a judge since 2005, has gained the nickname "Lift Police" for being ultra-stringent in meting out penalties for lifts. However, she somehow looked over Joey Graziadei and Jenna Johnson's contemporary number from the semifinals that featured the move.
It is difficult to dismiss the possibility that her leniency toward the 'Bachelor' star was influenced by other factors, including his performance and perhaps even his gender, given her history of seeming to score female contestants more harshly. While Inaba has previously claimed that being the only female on the panel of the bench puts her under more scrutiny, the latest pass raises the question of whether she is fairly applying the rules across the board.
Carrie Ann Inaba was accused of being harsher on female contestants
Carrie Ann Inaba's scoring bias controversy resurfaced in the Halloween episode when she gave Ilona Maher and Chandler Kinney much lower scores than her fellow judges despite their performances being praised widely.
Kinney performed a Viennese waltz inspired by her nightmares, which secured a perfect score of 10 from judges Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough. However, Inaba gave the actress a 9, saying the performance "wasn’t perfection." Viewers were left equally baffled as she gave Maher an eight, despite everyone praising her intricate tango, leading to calls for her firing. Some went as far as to suggest former 'DWTS' pro and three-time Mirrorball champion Mark Ballas as a replacement for Inaba, citing his fair and insightful feedback during guest appearances.
Carrie Ann Inaba calls backlash over her judging 'hurtful'
Carrie Ann Inaba addressed the backlash over her judging on 'Dancing With the Stars', calling the criticism "hurtful" but expressing resilience. During an appearance on 'Good Morning America', she said, "We have different opinions. Sometimes people come after me for my opinion. Sometimes it hurts my feelings, but I have tough skin. It's OK, they can come after me. I'm a judge. Sometimes I learn from the criticism, and it's all good."
She emphasized her openness to feedback while defending her role in offering honest assessments of performances.
Catch stirring 'DWTS' Season 33 performances on Tuesdays at 9 pm ET on ABC and Disney+. New episodes will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.
