Tom Bergeron made an “odd” comment on Dancing With The Stars, and he’s taking some serious heat for it.
This started with Carrie Ann Inaba praising Witney Carson and Frankie Muniz for their waltz.
“So far for me, that was the closest thing to perfection. I mean, you are so exquisite when you dance.”
Pretty standard fare stuff for Dancing With The Stars. Inaba continued: “It’s just so clean. I look for mistakes, but I don’t see them — except for when you almost lost control of Witney there.”
This is when Tom Bergeron decided to chime in with one of his attempts at humor. They never go well, but this time, it was especially bad:
“I’m guessing he’s not the first guy who’s lost control of Witney.”
Yikes.
Witney Carson looked shocked, and a lot of viewers felt the same way.
At best, it was a dumb joke and attempted compliment and Tom Bergeron just failed to communicate that. Which would make him a not-so-great TV host.
At worst, this was an implication about her personal life that may very well amount to sexual harassment.
Witney says that she’s just going to “brush it off,” which is totally her choice and an effective way to avoid further controversy.
Below, you’ll see fan tweets slamming Bergeron — but you’ll also see a few defending him.
And you’ll see what Tom Bergeron had to say when he finally addressed the issue.
Like we said, Bergeron is getting slammed
This tweeter was not the first or last to mention #MeToo and the inappropriate things that so many women hear in the workplace.
This one’s nice and concise
Some aren’t sure if it was sexual harassment, but most can agree that whatever Bergeron was trying to say wasn’t appropriate
He really stepped in it this time
Another #MeToo reference, though perhaps we should let Witney herself decide if this is a #MeToo situation
This one has a good sense of empathy
Weird comments are bad enough at work, but at work on national television? Yikes.
We’re always here for a good Saved By The Bell reference
But seriously, folks, we wonder what was going through Bergeron’s mind
Some wondered if they misheard
It’s a little unlikely that everyone “misheard” the same thing
An apology would help
Even if Tom Bergeron didn’t mean anything bad by it … apologies are a good idea
Some fans still have questions
Tom Bergeron has clarified, as you’ll see at the end
Another call for an apology
This tweet was appropriately nuanced, we think, since we’re talking about an ambiguous statement
This one’s firm, but fair
We have to agree.
This one’s a little much
Responding to something verbal — unless it’s a threat, which this was not — with a physical attack isn’t great. Even as a joke.
Some didn’t see what was wrong
The answer is that the comment was inappropriate, seemed like it might be sexual in nature, and clearly made Witney and fans uncomfortable.
Here come the “stop being offended” tweets
When people are offended, it’s sometimes unfounded. Sometimes it’s because something bad has happened and they wish that the world were a better place.
A ride-or-die Bergeron fan appears
Well, it’s official: EVERYBODY has a fanbase.
Fans had their own interpretations of what he meant
But who is right?
Finally, Tom Bergeron weighs in
Here’s a tip, folks: if you’re a national TV host and your “compliment” is widely misread as something else entirely, you’re not doing your job right.