Carrie Ann Inaba’s DWTS scoring has riled up fans.
Even as this season of Dancing With The Stars has captivated viewers, one judge has incensed the audience.
And this isn’t even the first time.
Carrie Ann Inaba is often eager to claim that DWTS critics of her are sexist. But critics say that she’s the one who throws women under the bus but hands out high scores to men like it’s Halloween candy.
‘DWTS’ fans are fuming at Carrie Ann (once again)
On the Tuesday, October 29 episode of Dancing With The Stars, it was Halloween Nightmares Week. Unfortunately, some of the scoring seemed to cause more of a fright than anyone’s dancefloor looks.
One major concern for viewers came when Carrie Ann Inaba, a choreographer who has featured on DWTS off and on since 2005, evaluated 24-year-old Disney actress Chandler Kinney.
Chandler danced alongside professional dancer Brandon Armstrong. The two performed a Viennese Waltz to “Secret.” They impressed many of the DWTS judges … but not Carrie Ann.
Judges Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough both awared 10s — out of 10, making that a perfect individual score from them both. Carrie Ann whipped out her DWTS paddle and presented Chandler with a 9.
9 is obviously not a bad score, but it ensured that Chandler didn’t get three 10s. Which struck many as odd, as Carrie Ann had not seemed so reserved by less impressive dances by some of the men.
“So it was really strong,” Carrie Ann admitted on DWTS. “But I wouldn’t call it perfection just because it’s such a higher criteria.”
Was Carrie Ann really being unfair with her ‘DWTS’ scores?
Viewers pointed out that it’s not like Carrie Ann is just really reluctant to give high DWTS scores.
After all, Dwight Howard, Danny Amendola, Joey Grazadei, and Stephen Nedoroscik all received 10s from Carrie Ann during that same episode of Dancing With The Stars. Which just makes the woman contestant’s lower score despite her performance seem … odd.
Though Twitter is in decline, users took to the social media platform to observe: “Chandler not getting a perfect score because Carrie Ann loves to underscore women every season.”
Another tweet reads: “Them giving all the men good scores when they’re hardly dancing (just doing lifts) is my villain origin story.”
“These judges are so harsh on the women but praise the men for doing the bare minimum,” another Twitter denizen lamented. “I don’t understand.”
It sounds like many DWTS fans are accusing Carrie Ann of internalized misogyny. When one internalizes an external oppressive system, it can make a person prejudiced against themselves and others like them. It can happen with racism, homophobia, and yes, it can absolutely happen with misogyny.
What does she have to say for herself?
“I judge what I see from my perspective,” Carrie Ann Inoba wrote on her Instagram Story in response to recent backlash. “If I just did what other people do, I would have zero value as a judge.”
She added: “But as the woman on the panel, I’m constantly made a target of blame and vitriol.”
That is precisely how viewers believes that she is treating the women who are dancers. Is it possible that they’re both right? Maybe Carrie Ann is being overly harsh and viewers are being extra critical of her in turn — all due to the same pernicious societal forces.