‘Dancing With the Stars’ Judge Carrie Ann Inaba Responds to Backlash Over Her Scoring

Dancing With the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba is responding to a wave of backlash she’s facing from fans who are criticizing her scoring.

After being accused of scoring the Season 34 celebrities inconsistently and showing favor to certain contestants, the longtime DWTS judge took to the comment section on her recent Instagram post to defend herself.

“It’s okay to disagree about what we see. That’s what makes our show great,” she wrote. “You have a say in the matter. We want you to vote for what you love and believe in. I appreciate your comment and the way you expressed your feelings. thank you for your passion and your opinion.”

Inaba’s response came amid a wave of comments from fans criticizing her judging methods.

“Can you explain why you gave [Whitney Leavitt] a 9 when she was off beat and also has prior dance experience so she shouldn’t be off beat,” one person wrote, “but [Robert Irwin] and even [Jen Affleck] had a beautiful dance, timing was impeccable and you scored them lower? Just confusing to watch and wondering what goes through your mind when giving those scores.”

Another wrote, “Giving Whitney a 9 but Robert an 8, GIRLLL please get it together,” as a third added, “I’m semi new to DWTS, but I quickly noticed people didn’t like you as a judge. Didn’t take me long to understand why. Watching you give an 8 to Robert but 9 to Whitney last night was INSANE. I could never trust your judging after that.”

One longtime fan even advised, “As someone who has been watching the show since 2005, I think you need to take a step back and think on why you judge some contestants harshly vs how you favor others. You keep making more enemies every season with this mindset. It’s not good for anyone.”

Inaba was booed during Tuesday’s episode of the ABC dance competition when she criticized Boy Meets World alum Danielle Fishel and her pro partner, Pasha Pashkov, for their Dedication Night dance to Fishel’s former co-star, William Daniels.

“Some of your dances are starting to feel like I’m watching the same dance over and over again,” Inaba told the pair as the audience began to boo her, adding, “Try to give a little bit more variety as far as dynamics. This is also on you, Pasha.”

Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu.