Dancing With the Stars: Brian Austin Green Criticizes Fianceé Sharna Burgess’ Exclusion From Len Goodman Tribute: ‘She Deserved Better’
Sharna Burgess‘ absence from Dancing With the Stars‘ Len Goodman tribute was a grave oversight that her “family in the ballroom” should have spoken up about, her fianceé and former DWTS partner Brian Austin Green said Wednesday on social media.
“I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed I was for @SharnaBurgess to not be invited for the tribute last night,” Green posted on Instagram. “It’s disappointing as well that note of her ‘family in the ballroom’ stuck up for her or spoke out. She’s an incredible soul and has always been a friend to everyone. She deserved better. #familystickstogether.”
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Tuesday’s tribute to the late Goodman found pro dancers from past seasons joining current pros, alongside judge Derek Hough and co-host Julianne Hough, for a dance tribute set to “Moon River” by Henry Mancini and choreographed by pros Val Chmerkovskiy and Jenna Johnson. (Watch the performance here.)
Burgess was a pro on the ABC competition for 14 seasons, most recently taking part in Season 30 — when she partnered with Green. In the caption to his post, Green noted that Burgess wasn’t even invited to watch the tribute from the audience. “Shame on that group of people,” he wrote, adding that Burgess’ fellow pro Cheryl Burke “should have been there as well.”
He referred to Burke’s announcement Monday that she reportedly wasn’t invited to take part in the memorial celebration, despite appearing in the most seasons (26) of any DWTS pro. “However, I’ll be there in spirit and can’t wait to cheer my former colleagues on!” she wrote on Threads.
ABC had no comment on Burke’s lack of an invitation. TVLine has reached out to the network about Burgess’ absence.
In September, Burgess criticized her former series for including NFL player Adrian Peterson in the Season 32 lineup. In 2014, Peterson was charged with felony child abuse for spanking his then-4-year-old son with a switch. He later pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of misdemeanor reckless assault and was suspended from the NFL for a year.
“You know how we talk about the things you could have avoided?” she said on the Old-ish podcast, which she hosts with Green and Randy Spelling. “I’m telling you now if I walked into a room and that was my partner, I would turn around and walk right back out. There is no way — now being a mother — I would be able to stomach that. But him aside, the rest of the cast looks incredible.”
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