Shots Fired! Carrie Ann Inaba Goes Off on Anna Delvey’s ‘Dismissive’ DWTS Comments
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Was Anna Delvey’s one-word comment following her Dancing With the Stars elimination a misstep? Judge Carrie Ann Inaba said she was “taken aback” by Delvey’s “dismissive” remark.
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Delvey was eliminated during week 2 of Dancing With the Stars. As the September 24 show ended, host Julianne Hough asked Delvey what she was taking away from her DWTS experience. Her response? “Nothing.”
In a September 25 interview with Entertainment Weekly, Inaba shared her reaction to Anna Delvey’s curt response. “I was taken aback by her comment when asked what she learned from being on the show, and she flatly said, ‘Nothing.’ That was dismissive not only of the opportunity she was given, of her wonderful and supportive partner Ezra in his debut season, but also of all of us who work on the show-from the dancers to behind the scenes to the creative team,” Inaba said.
She added, “We all put in the effort to give her a fair opportunity. But I don’t think she could see that and it’s a shame. A little gratitude could have changed the narrative.”
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During her introduction package on the Dancing With the Stars premiere on September 17, Delvey said that she “was accused of multiple kinds of grand larceny” in 2017 and “did serve [her] time.” She added, “And Dancing With the Stars is a way for me to show people a different side of me. My prior history shows I’m pretty determined. It’s a quality to channel into something positive.”
After Delvey and pro partner Ezra Sosa performed their routine, Inaba addressed the vibe. “When you came out on the dance floor, there was a shift in the energy in this room,” the judge said. “I would just like to say, let’s all just give this a chance, because I can imagine that this is scary for you.”
She added, “I’m not pro or against anything that you’ve done, but this is about your dancing here. Let’s all give her that space, please.”
Inaba shared her take on how the audience voted, telling Entertainment Weekly, “I think our audience did what felt right to them. And that’s the beauty of DWTS for our fans. Our fans are passionate and engaged and they vote for who they want to win the Mirrorball trophy. But I’d like to point out something important. Our fans don’t vote people off. That is not our format. Unlike Survivor we don’t vote people off. Our fans vote for who they want to win.”
In a September 25 interview with Extra, Sosa weighed in on Delvey’s response to Hough after being eliminated. “I knew she was going to say something very iconic and something very ‘Anna Delvey’ with her exit,” he said. “Of course she has to — it’s very typical. We would expect nothing less of her.”
Sosa said Delvey was apologetic back stage. “She honestly kept on apologizing to me. She felt super sorry that my first season was cut short,” he said.
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