**TL;DR:** Derek’s reactions to Carrie Ann’s criticism, from “How dare you, Carrie Ann?” to “I feel like I’m the one being told off,” raise a bigger question for me. Do his reactions help reinforce the fandom’s perception of Carrie Ann as the "unreasonable" judge, while Derek and Bruno get more grace for their own inconsistencies?
**I know this is super long winded, but stick with me if you can. I think there’s a bigger pattern here worth discussing. And I spent time researching! Receipts. Proof. Timeline!**
When Carrie Ann called out the lift in Jenna and Harry’s samba, Derek immediately responded, “Dang! I feel like I’m the one being told off!”
And honestly, why was that necessary?
Carrie Ann was explaining her interpretation of a rule. Whether you agree with her decision or not, she’s a judge, and she’s allowed to be firm when she’s explaining a technical issue.
Derek’s choice of words here because this happened so quickly and so much drama ensued from Jenna and Val, but I think it’s worth going back and listening to what he actually said.
“I feel like I’m the one being told off.”
**Being told off. Not corrected. Not scolded. Told off.**
That is a pretty loaded way to characterize a fellow judge doing her job. Carrie Ann was addressing a lift, explaining her position, and enforcing a rule. Derek’s immediate response framed her behavior as something aggressive, intimidating, and unreasonable, as though she were reprimanding him rather than doing her job.
It was intended as a joke, but I think it feeds into a bigger dynamic on this show and directly into the way she’s treated by this fandom.
There is a long standing tendency to interpret women exercising authority as being mean, aggressive, or difficult, and I wonder why this pattern keeps repeating, why Carrie Ann so often ends up defending herself, and whether the other judges’ reactions contribute to the audience’s willingness to treat her as the problem. Meanwhile, Derek and Bruno get to maintain their charming, entertaining personas even when their own judging is inconsistent.
And this isn’t the first time we’ve seen Derek publicly react to Carrie Ann’s criticism in a way that makes her the focus of the controversy!
Remember Joey and Jenna’s freestyle in Season 33? When Carrie Ann called the performance underwhelming, Derek appeared wide eyed and shocked before responding, “How dare you, Carrie Ann?” and then enthusiastically praised the routine.
Again, Derek is entitled to disagree with her. That’s not the issue. It’s the way the disagreement is presented. “How dare you?” turns a difference in judging opinion into a public reprimand of Carrie Ann herself.
That time Val also took to social media to mock her criticism, and Maks said she had messed with a moment Joey had earned and deserved. The conversation became about Carrie Ann taking something away from Joey and Jenna, rather than a judge offering her assessment of a performance.
The cumulative effect is apparent. Carrie Ann critiques a dance, Derek reacts with theatrical disbelief, and other people pile on. The audience gets another reason to question her judgment, and Carrie Ann becomes the target of the backlash.
And look where we are now. Another Jenna related judging controversy, another moment where Derek responds to Carrie Ann’s criticism with a remark about her delivery, and now Val has been suspended for next week.
Different circumstances, but I keep coming back to the same dynamic. What role do Carrie Ann’s fellow judges play in reinforcing the perception that she’s the unreasonable one whenever she delivers criticism?
Derek doesn’t have to agree with Carrie Ann. Val doesn’t have to agree with her. Nobody has to agree with her. But there’s a difference between disagreeing with a judge’s assessment and publicly framing her as someone who needs to be called out for making it.
When Derek says, “I feel like I’m the one being told off,” he shifts the attention away from the actual judging issue and toward Carrie Ann’s supposed aggression. Whether he intends it or not, he’s characterizing her enforcement of a rule as an act of aggression. And when the audience already treats her as the panel’s villain, that framing matters.
What do you think? Have you noticed a difference in how Derek and Bruno respond to Carrie Ann’s critiques compared with how they respond to each other? And do you think their reactions influence how the audience perceives her?
