Dance Moms: A New Era just made a triumphant return for the franchise on Hulu, but it isn’t without some confusing and shocking decisions along the way. The latest comes courtesy of Decider and highlights a wild solo dance routine inspired by the murdered six-year-old true crime staple JonBenet Ramsey.
According to Decider, in episode 8 of the Hulu original, we see Gloria Hampton assign young 11-year-old Ashlan with the solo dance inspired by Ramsey and her tragic end. “I want you to know all about her, everything about her family, and everything about her tragic ending, okay?” Hampton asks in the episode, titling the routine “Glitz” and charging the young girl and her mother with the prep work.
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“Oh my gosh, this is really not for me, but I’ll do anything for the win,” Ashlan says, while her mother runs down the timeline of Ramsey’s life. According to the outlet, Ashlan’s mother details the ransom note, the lack of resolution in the investigation, and the media frenzy. Hampton is later seen coaching the young girl through the routine, stressing it is a “really sad, tragic story.”
“So you’re playing this young child who was put on display at all these pageants, and your parents want this fame and stardom for you. But is that what they really want?” Hampton says, according to Fox News. Ashlan performs the sequence, even placing her hands around her throat to symbolize Ramsey’s death by strangulation.
After all of it, the most shocking bit is that Ashlan ended up in fourth place despite the eye-opening display. Plus she felt terrible about her own life in the process. “I kinda know how JonBenét felt,” she tells her mother. “I’m never good enough.”
Viewers were divided on what the biggest problem with the episode would turn out to be. For some, they were disturbed the topic was even floated as possible in the first place, let alone that it actually happens in real-time. “My 9 y.o. discovered the new Dance Moms series…They filmed in real time as the excited lead read the story on the internet and you could see her soul die,” Evie Nagy shared on X (formerly Twitter).
Others were shocked that an 11-year-old was given a crash course in the murder of a 6-year-old girl from her mother in an effort to gain “fame.” If you’re dying to see it, Dance Moms: A New Era is streaming on Hulu.
