Dancing With the Stars is all about skimpy oufits, spray tans, and celebrities trying (and sometimes failing) to hold their own on the dance floor. But in one moment this week, contestant Amber Rose said it also came with a dose of body-shaming.
This week's show featured Amber dancing salsa to the Jennifer Lopez song "Booty." Judge Julianne Hough is shown talking to fellow judge Bruno Tonioli about how she felt "a little uncomfortable" watching her sexy dance moves. On her podcast, Loveline with Amber Rose, Amber opened up about feeling nitpicked for her body in ways that other dancers weren't:
"It was a point in the dance where I had to lift my leg up, and [partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy] dipped me, and she said, 'Ooh, I'm unfomfortable.' And I instantly, I felt, I did feel body shamed. Because, you know, all the beautiful, professional dancers that are on "Dancing With the Stars," I mean, they dress very sexy. And they do splits. And they grind up on these guys, and they look absolutely stunning. And they get a standing ovation, and for me and my body, my hips, my ass, my breasts, made her feel uncomfortable."
Here's a clip from Amber's salsa routine, which got criticized for being too hip-hop and not "salsa" enough:
And here's Julianne saying she felt "a little uncomfortable" and that the dance wasn't "a proper salsa."
Julianne responded to Amber's accusations, blaming the editing that comes with reality TV for distorting what she said. She explained to E! News in a statement:
"To be clear, that was a produced package, not live coverage and they can put those sound bites anywhere. My 'uncomfortable' comment was about the fact that I felt like I wanted more out of the performance – when someone is doing a hot, sexy dance like that without the right amount of energy that is required, it can be uncomfortable to watch. Trust me I'm ALL for a sexy booty dance!! We all know that!! And any kind of body shaming goes against everything I believe in."
In a blog post for Entertainment Weekly, Amber's partner Maks defended her from the judges' critiques, saying that it was tough to choreograph a salsa routine to that song, but they obviously got it for a reason. "It made me so upset to see how sad Amber was after the judges' comments," he said. "This competition is difficult for everyone in different ways, but what I appreciate from Amber is her perseverance and her ability to go through these criticisms and come out on top." He also said he'll be joining her at her annual Slutwalk event, which fights problems like body shaming and slut-shaming, this weekend.
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