Dancing With the Stars fans have some thoughts about Carrie Ann Inaba’s scoring this season.
The DWTS star, who’s been on the show for two decades now, has a controversial approach to judging — she gets criticized for being inconsistent and tough. Most recently, viewers have taken issue with how she’s judged Robert Irwin, Danielle Fishel, and Pasha Pashkov. “Some of your dances are starting to feel like I’m watching the same dance over and over again,” Carrie Ann told Danielle and Pasha following their Dedication Night performance. Pasha later called the comment “unfair” and noted that he was “not happy” about it.
Fans of the show have obviously shared strong opinions about Carrie Ann’s judging style on social media, and she just responded to the backlash with a Swiftie-coded post. Here’s what Carrie Ann Inaba had to say (sing) to her critics.
Carrie Ann Inaba Responds To Judging Criticism With A Taylor Swift Song
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On October 22, The DWTS judge posted a video of herself putting on lipgloss and lip-syncing to Taylor Swift’s “Actually Romantic.” (Ya know, the song rumored to be about a feud with Charli XCX.) “It’s actually sweet / All the time you’ve spent on me,” Carrie Ann lip-synced along to the song. “It’s honestly wild / All the effort you’ve put in.”
“My Wednesday morning anthem,” she added in a caption. “It’s actually romantic #dwts #fyp.”
But alas, her video only energized the critics more. In the TikTok comments section, DWTS fans were quick to mock Carrie Ann for the discrepancy between her comments and scores. One person wrote: “Great TikTok, moved me to tears, best I’ve seen this year. 7.” Another similarly quipped, “I liked this TikTok although it was kinda off on a lot of places. Other TikTok’s were better. 10!”
Carrie Ann previously defended her scoring style when someone on Instagram accused her of favoring Dylan Efron over Robert Irwin. “It’s okay to disagree about what we see,” she replied. “That’s what makes our show great. You have a say in the matter. We want you to vote for what you love and believe in.”
The judge added, “I appreciate your comment and the way you expressed your feelings. Thank you for your passion and your opinion.”
Although Pasha Pashkov disagreed with Carrie Ann’s comments to him earlier in the season, he defended her after the latest episode. “I think judges have the hardest job,” he told E! News. “To actually make that decision and pick up that number in front of millions of people watching, knowing that you might get a backlash on it is not easy.” He thinks the judges, including Carrie Ann, are doing “the best that they can.”
