'The View' Stars Roll Their Eyes Over 'Excessive' Drama on 'DWTS' After Val Chmerkovskiy's Suspension

The co-hosts of The View aren't holding back their opinions on the latest controversy surrounding Dancing With the Stars.

During the October 19 episode of the ABC talk show, Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin and Ana Navarro weighed in on the backlash surrounding professional dancer Val Chmerkovskiy's suspension following his social media response to judge Carrie Ann Inaba.

The drama began after Inaba criticized Jenna Johnson, Chmerkovskiy's wife and fellow professional dancer, over a lift during the October 13 episode. The disagreement quickly spilled onto social media, prompting The View panelists to question why the situation had escalated into such a public controversy.

Goldberg wasted no time questioning why the disagreement had played out on social media instead of being addressed behind closed doors.

"Why didn't he just call her?" the longtime moderator asked.

"Why does everybody have to put everything on social media?" Goldberg continued, suggesting Chmerkovskiy could have reached out to Inaba directly to apologize or discuss the issue rather than airing their differences publicly.

Hostin echoed Goldberg's sentiments, arguing that the situation had attracted unnecessary attention when it could have been resolved privately.

“He could’ve just walked up to her into her dressing room and said, ‘Can I talk to you about the way you criticized my wife? I thought it was excessive,'" she shared.

Hostin also took issue with how Inaba delivered her criticism of Johnson during the live broadcast. The longtime DWTS judge pulled out a sheet of paper to explain why the lift violated the competition's rules, a move that Hostin felt was too much.

The panelist described Inaba's approach as "a lot" while discussing how she addressed the dancing duo.

The controversy gained further attention after a media outlet highlighted Chmerkovskiy's comment. Inaba later came across the TikTok video and shared the report on Instagram, writing, "So this is what we are doing now?" The post has since been deleted.

As the controversy continued to gain traction, Chmerkovskiy was suspended for one episode. The professional dancer addressed the situation in a now-deleted Instagram post, admitting he had made a mistake.

"In a moment where my instinct was to defend my wife," he began.

"I made a poor decision to reference a meme to 'keep my wife's name' out of the conversation, without stopping to think through what else that reference could imply, which was genuinely never my intention," he explained. "Carrie Ann certainly didn't deserve to get caught in the middle of my bad judgment, and I hate that she was."

According to ABC News, the show's production company, BBC Studios, emphasized that the well-being of everyone involved in Dancing With the Stars was "non-negotiable" and deemed Chmerkovskiy's social media post inappropriate.

Following his suspension, fellow professional dancer Alan Bersten stepped in to replace Chmerkovskiy, partnering with Johnson for the October 20 Dedication Night episode.

While the panel weighed in on the controversy involving Chmerkovskiy and Inaba, Navarro revealed she had her own reason for boycotting the dance competition — a recent elimination that left her frustrated.

"Since they got rid of Guillermo last week after he danced to Bad Bunny, I am boycotting this thing," she declared, referring to Guillermo Rodriguez, the Jimmy Kimmel Live! sidekick who competed on the show.

"On behalf of fat Latinos everywhere, I'm standing up for Guillermo!" Navarro added.