Carrie Ann Inaba Calls for a New DWTS Lift Rule

Carrie Ann Inaba wants Dancing With the Stars to revisit one of its most debated standards after a dispute over a lift escalated beyond the ballroom. The longtime judge has proposed bringing dancers and judges together before next season to clarify how lifts should be defined and enforced.

The controversy moved from judging to social media

The dispute began during the October 13 episode, when Inaba challenged a move in Jenna Johnson and Harry Shum Jr.’s samba. Johnson and Inaba disagreed over whether it qualified as a lift, a type of move that is restricted in certain dances on the competition.

Johnson’s husband, professional dancer Val Chmerkovskiy, later posted a social-media remark that referenced Will Smith’s 2022 Oscars confrontation with Chris Rock. BBC Studios called the post inappropriate and suspended Chmerkovskiy for one week. He apologized, missed the following episode and was later cleared to return to rehearsals.

Inaba initially stayed quiet, explaining that professional boundaries separate judges from active competitors. She has now said that she and Johnson spoke after the show, hugged and moved past their tense exchange. She also offered to discuss her approach to enforcing the lift standard directly with Johnson.

A proposal focused on consistency

Rather than treating the episode as only a personal feud, Inaba used her response to argue for a more formal conversation. She suggested a session involving the judges and professional dancers to review the rule’s history, including how late head judge Len Goodman and the show’s original producers shaped it.

Inaba emphasized that the rule is meant to protect safety and fairness, but the argument exposed how easily competitors and judges can interpret the same movement differently. A shared preseason briefing could give everyone a common reference point before scores and eliminations are at stake.

No revised rule has been announced. For now, Inaba’s proposal turns a heated week into a practical question for the show: whether a long-standing standard needs clearer language for a modern ballroom.