Maks Chmerkovskiy just did what family does – he jumped into the middle of a fight that’s been brewing between his sister-in-law Jenna Johnson and Dancing With the Stars judge Carrie Ann Inaba. And honestly? He didn’t hold back.

The Rulebook Defense That Misses the Point

Here’s what went down. On Thursday’s episode of the “Viall Files” podcast, Maks – who’s been around this show long enough to know every loophole and technicality – basically called out Inaba for selective rule enforcement. “She goes and starts reading off the rulebook, but then that same rulebook that’s applicable in ballroom with lifts is only applicable to a couple dancing,” the 46-year-old said. “You’re not talking about extra background dancers running out.”

Let me back up for a second. This whole mess started on Super Bowl Night back on September 13th, when Jenna and her celebrity partner Harry Shum Jr. performed what was, by all accounts, a pretty electric samba. The problem? Two troupe dancers helped Shum do a backflip mid-routine. And Inaba, 58, docked them points for an “illegal lift.”

Now technically, she’s not wrong. In traditional ballroom samba, dancers aren’t allowed to take both feet off the ground. That’s the rule. But here’s where it gets messy – and where Maks has a point that’s hard to argue with.

When Background Dancers Aren’t in the Book

The rulebook Inaba loves to quote? It applies to the couple. The two people actually competing. It doesn’t say a damn thing about what troupe dancers can or can’t do, because that’s not really been the issue before. Or at least, it hasn’t been enforced this way.

Maks cut straight to it: “There’s no ‘three other people’ in the rulebook.” And look, I’ve watched this show for years, and he’s right. We’ve seen backup dancers do all kinds of acrobatic nonsense in group numbers. Since when did we start counting their feet?

Is This Really About the Rules?

What’s interesting here – and what Maks seems to be hinting at without quite saying it – is whether this is actually about lift violations or something else entirely. Because if we’re being honest, the judges on DWTS have always played fast and loose with the rules when it suits the narrative they want.

I mean, how many times have we seen them let certain things slide for fan favorites while hammering others for minor infractions? It happens every season. The rules are kind of… flexible, depending on who’s dancing and what the producers need that week.

So when Inaba suddenly gets super technical about a backflip performed by people who aren’t even the competitors, it feels less like rules enforcement and more like she’s picking a specific battle with a specific pro.

“The point is: Carrie Ann, get some-“

That’s where Maks’s quote cuts off in the podcast, but you can kind of fill in the blank yourself. He’s frustrated. Probably because he’s seen Jenna work her ass off on this show for years, and watching a judge nitpick over something that’s never been an issue before? Yeah, that’ll get under your skin.

The Bigger Picture Nobody’s Talking About

What this really highlights is how weirdly arbitrary the judging has become on Dancing With the Stars. And I’m not just talking about this one incident. The show’s been on for what, 32 seasons now? The rules have always been more like guidelines – suggestions that get enforced when it’s convenient and ignored when it’s not.

But when you start pulling out the rulebook for one couple and not others, when you’re docking points for troupe dancers doing lifts while the actual competitors keep their feet planted… it starts to feel personal. And that’s not a good look for anyone.

The thing is, Jenna Johnson is a consummate professional. She’s not some rookie who doesn’t know the rules. She’s been a pro on this show since 2014, won a mirrorball trophy with Adam Rippon, and knows exactly what she’s doing. So either she deliberately broke a rule she knew existed (unlikely), or she – like everyone else – understood that what backup dancers do in a routine isn’t really part of the lift rule as it’s been traditionally applied. Other reality TV veterans like Denise Richards on Marriage & Her One Regret have also spoken about being unfairly targeted by selective enforcement of unwritten rules.

What This Actually Means

Maks speaking up matters because he’s not just some random guy with an opinion. He’s a former pro who knows the show inside and out, and he’s calling out what a lot of people watching probably felt but couldn’t quite articulate. The inconsistency is the problem, not the rule itself. The King of Sitcoms Finally Breaks His Silence about similar frustrations with network television's inconsistent standards over his four-decade career.

Will this change anything? Probably not. The judges are gonna judge how they’re gonna judge, and Carrie Ann Inaba’s not exactly known for backing down when challenged. But at least now it’s out there – the question of whether we’re enforcing rules or just using them as weapons when we feel like it.

And honestly, that’s a question the show’s needed to answer for a while now. This just happens to be the moment where someone finally said it out loud.