Steve Kazee has publicly defended fiancée Jenna Dewan against online claims that she and “Dancing with the Stars” partner Val Chmerkovskiy share inappropriate chemistry.
The Tony-winning actor, 48, fired back at an Instagram video that accused Dewan, 44, and Chmerkovskiy, 38, of getting too “touchy” during their rumba performance this week. Kazee, who proposed to the “Step Up” star in 2020, did not hold back in the comments section.
“They don’t have chemistry. They have too much chemistry. They have chemistry in the wrong places. Make up your minds. Y’all really got too much time on your hands. 😂 the spouses are unbothered stay hatin [sic],” he wrote on the post.
Kazee followed up with a second pointed remark, adding that critics should “put some respect on my queens name and at least pronounce her name correctly when you try to slander her.”
The couple, who began dating in October 2018, share two children: son Callum, 6, and daughter Rhiannon, 2. Dewan also has daughter Everly, 13, with ex-husband Channing Tatum. Kazee’s “unbothered” framing appeared to reference both his own relationship and Chmerkovskiy’s marriage to fellow “DWTS” pro Jenna Johnson since April 2019; the pair share 3-year-old son Rome.
Carrie Ann Inaba, a judge on the ABC competition series, also weighed in under the same video post. The longtime panelist pushed back against the narrative that physical closeness between dance partners signals anything beyond professionalism.
“Dancers are physical beings. This is like the way we say hello. Don’t try to turn it into something it is not. Have some respect for both Jenna and Val and their partners please,” Inaba wrote in the comments.
The rumba that sparked the discussion was performed to Mariah Carey’s “It’s Like That” during Tuesday night’s episode. Dewan and Chmerkovskiy have continued advancing in the competition, surviving the week that saw “Summer House” star Ciara Miller and pro partner Brandon Armstrong eliminated.
This marks the second wave of public scrutiny Dewan has navigated since joining the current “DWTS” season. Her casting initially drew pushback from some viewers who cited her professional dance background, including years as a backup dancer for Janet Jackson and her starring role in 2006’s “Step Up” alongside Tatum.
Dewan addressed those concerns in a Sept. 2 interview, distinguishing her prior experience from ballroom technique. She explained that certain elements of her training translated while others required deliberate unlearning.
“There’s parts of my dance training that’s helpful, obviously. I’ve learned choreography, I can perform, but there is a certain sense of unlearning for me,” she said. “It’s a new technique, brand new technique. It almost threw me off initially because I had to unlearn a lot of — I don’t want to say bad habits — but just habits of the style that I’m used to.”
She added that ballroom dancing felt “foreign” to her despite her extensive movement background.
New episodes of “Dancing with the Stars” air Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, with next-day streaming available on Hulu.
