Nearly two years after he was unceremoniously let go from ABC's Dancing With the Stars after hosting for 28 seasons, television personality Tom Bergeron is finally getting his revenge.
Amid news that behind-the-scenes drama has resulted in Executive Producer Andrew Llinares, who ousted Bergeron, abruptly quitting the show, Bergeron took to Twitter to throw some major shade.
And the show's devoted fanbase, many of whom have bristled at the changes Llinares made, are loving it.
See Bergeron's tweet below.
Bergeron's tweet came after a Dancing With the Stars fan asked him for his thoughts on the bombshell news of Llinares' departure.
Bergeron needed just three small words and an emoji to sum it all up.
"Karma’s a bitch 😉"
Llinares' leadership of the show has been controversial from the start among both the show's cast and its dedicated fanbase alike. Llinares took over in 2018 amidst consecutive years of falling ratings and instituted several sweeping and unpopular changes.
Most controversial was jettisoning both Bergeron and his hosting sidekick Erin Andrews simultaneously in 2020, replacing them with model and TV host Tyra Banks. And along with Banks came a more glamorized version of the program.
The show's signature opening dance numbers were replaced by Banks making grand catwalk appearances in intricate gowns. The show's lighting became busier and more stylized as well, and constantly moving video backdrops—derided by one of the show's veterans as "screensavers" that visually overwhelm the dancers—were added to each number.
In an appearance on late comedian Bob Saget's podcast last year, Bergeron attributed his ouster to another one of Llinares' wildly unpopular changes—chasing ratings by hiring political personalities, like former Republican President Donald Trump's Press Secretary Sean Spicer, to compete on the show.
Of Llinares and the new blood he brought to the show, Bergeron told Saget:
"...[T]hose people and I did not see eye-to-eye about how best to present the show... [which should be] an oasis, for two hours every week, from all of the nonsense and the divisiveness going on right now, and let’s not put political people in there.”
The show's ratings have continued to fall season after season during Llinares' tenure.
On Twitter, the show's fans were definitely on Bergeron's side, and many applauded his response.
Though the show's 31st season has not yet been ordered by the network, Dancing With the Stars is expected to return in the fall and is currently searching for Llinares' replacement.
FEC
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