Maksim Chmerkovskiy is clarifying his recent statements about new “Dancing with the Stars” pro Ian Ravnica.
On October 24, Chmerkovskiy appeared at his wife Peta Murgatroyd's party. Podcast “Penthouse with Peta” and said A Ravnik had no right to teach a star partner at a dance competition.
“No foundation, no technique, no quality, no understanding of partnership. Bro, I'm getting emotional,” Chmerkovskiy said during the episode.
The Ravnic who was was previously a dancer on Taylor Swift's Eras Tour, was the partner of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star Jen Affleck. Duet were eliminated from the competition in the October 28 issue.
Facing criticism for comments about Ravnica's dancing abilities, Chmerkovskiy posted a new video on his Instagram page and explained what prompted him to speak out in the first place.
“First of all, I want to apologize to Ian for how my words made you feel, for hurting your feelings,” Chmerkovskiy said.
The professional dancer, who was a “DWTS” pro for 17 seasons, then said he would “like to meet” Ravnica and “bury the hatchet.”
“And, dare I say, we might even become friends,” he said, adding that he hopes the one-on-one encounter will make Ravnica “feel completely different.”
Chmerkovskiy clarified that he didn't mean to offend Ravnica when he made his first comments.
“I don't friend, no matter what I say. Maybe it's paradoxical, but my personality. (If) I love you, (I) will tell you how it is, not to mention if I don’t know you,” he said.
Chmerkovskiy then clarified that he doesn't let “feelings and emotions” cloud his “dance commentary.”
“It just comes with (a) completely different range of reasoning. And, you know, I'm that guy. And so I'd like to explain myself, like I said. I'd like to keep it personal, because to me it's crazy,” he said.
Chmerkovskiy's wife, brother Val Chmerkovskiy and sister-in-law Jenna Johnson performed as professional dancers on “DWTS.” In his video message, the 45-year-old said many people reached out to him after his comments on Ravnica to criticize him for only winning the show once.
“You can't hurt my feelings by saying, 'Look at you, loser. You only won once.” Blah, blah, blah. Yes, I know this more than anyone else. I'm also very aware that every member of my family has won more on Dancing with the Stars than I have. They do a much better job on Dancing with the Stars than I do,” he said.
Chmerkovskiy explained that he has always had a hard time mastering one important element of competition: public perception and what people think of him.
“Essentially, I don’t care and I run with it. And because I lead with this, I'm not competing for anyone's votes,” he said. “And so on a platform where it matters, I’m not that guy.”
Chmerkovskiy said he was motivated to publicly apologize to Ravnica after some self-reflection and not because of criticism from the public.
“(When) I realize something about myself, I become aware of it. It won't happen because someone tells me it, but because I finally realized it for myself,” he said.
At the end of his video, the professional dancer sent a message to social media users saying: “Let's not defend someone by attacking someone else. That's all I have to say.”
Following his elimination from “DWTS” on October 28, Ravnik addressed Chmerkovskiy's comments in an interview with “Entertainment tonight“
“I have no comments on this matter. Look, I got all the love on this show. All the praise from the judges as well, like everyone gave me so much love,” he said. “Anyone on the outside talking about people (trying to) stay relevant and spread hate, that's not the best way to do it. And I will never spread or accept hate.”
