Carrie Ann Inaba Penalizing Whitney Leavitt for Lifts Is Called Out

[WARNING: This post contains MAJOR spoilers from Season 34, Week 10, of Dancing With the Stars.]

Carrie Ann Inaba faced the wrath of Dancing With the Stars fans during the Tuesday, November 18, episode. Inaba was admittedly hard on the six contestants during Prince Night, pointing out that it was the Semifinals, and noting that she was going to be critical because the competition was so high.

However, when it came to how she scored Whitney Leavitt‘s second dance of the night, fans were outraged. Leavitt and Mark Ballas danced a Viennese waltz, and although Inaba called it her “absolute favorite” of Leavitt’s dances this season so far, she said she was docking a point because there were two “hops” in the routine. Leavitt wound up scoring a 29/30 for the dance, as Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli gave her 10s, and Inaba scored her a 9.

Viennese waltz is one of the dances that does not allow lifts on Dancing With the Stars, and Inaba has always, since Season 1, been a tyrant about illegal lifts. However, just last week, she ignored the lift rule when Robert Irwin danced a foxtrot, another style where lifts are not allowed. In fact, she specifically told Irwin she was throwing her lift policy out the window and gave him a 10 for the routine.

“Now I don’t even like Whitney but this can’t be the same Carrie Ann that refused to call out Robert’s lift last season. Carrie Ann sis your misogyny is showing. #DWTS,” one fan noted on X. Someone else wrote, “a lift is fine when robert is doing something emotional but god forbid a girl does a hop only you see,” and another person said, “Robert has a lift last week but Carrie Anne ignores it but Whitney has a “hop” and gets docked points????? GTFO #DWTS.” Another viewer also commented, “So when do we stop picking and choosing who you break the rules for Carrie Ann? Letting it slide for Robert… but when a woman comes and does it you dock a point.”

Leavitt still tied for second place on the Semifinals leaderboard, alongside Alix Earle, with a total score of 58/60 for her two dances. The ladies were right behind Irwin, who had a score of 59/60. Tied for third was Elaine Hendrix and Jordan Chiles with 57/60, while Dylan Efron stood alone at the bottom with a 55/60.

However, the decisions in the competition are not made on judges’ scores alone. When the viewer votes were factored in, Leavitt was eliminated from the competition, which means she will not dance in the Finals next week.

Dancing With the Stars, Season 34 Finale, Tuesday, November 25, 8/7c, ABC and Disney+