Dancing With the Stars pro Val Chmerkovskiy was really feeling himself in his new hairstyle ahead of the show’s Mariah Carey Night on October 6. The Ukrainian American dancer rocked cornrows—a traditionally Black hairstyle—and doubled down on “loving” how he looked before having them removed due to accusations of cultural appropriation. Val seemed unbothered by the backlash during a post-DWTS interview with Us Weekly, saying, “There’s nothing to talk about, [other than] the fact that I love the way it looked.” He added, “I love the process of getting to know the importance of it, and I got to support a local Black business.
They did a fine job, and I’m proud of everything I did.” His comments come after fans had mixed reactions to the several TikToks he posted in the hairstyle on October 3. He first showed off the look in a video set to Mariah’s song, “Heartbreaker,” as his hairstylist handled finishing touches. Fuck the haters.” On another one of his posts featuring selfies and a photo of a silk bonnet, another person chimed in with some tips, writing, “I think it will just slip off and you need a durag or bonnet with the ties.
Bc the bonnet is for big hairstyles (box braids, fros, etc.)” The dancer seemed receptive to the advice, since he liked the comment and even responded, “They didn’t have any at the store. The silk bonnet is perfect to sleep in tho.” One of this season’s only Black contestants, Ciara Miller, also weighed in with, “You just pissed me off.” Given Ciara’s previous comments about wanting to be paired with Val, it seems like playful banter—especially since he liked and responded to the comment with a GIF. Elsewhere during his chat with Us, Val further explained, “People are people.
I get so much love, and so I don’t block out the noise. Some of the audacity people have to write things, or now make videos of things, I can’t even tell if you’re a real person or [artificial intelligence]. We live in an environment where these networks have brought us all together, but they also empowered a lot of systems at play that participate in the rage-bait economy, and, you know, we’re all evolving to find tools to deal with that type of noise.” He continued, “At the end of the day, I’m not naïve to all the love that we receive and all the sanity that I get to experience on socials.”
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