DWTS Pro Sasha Farber Apologizes After Major Fan Backlash

Sasha Farber

ABC Suni Lee and Sasha Farber

Some fans of “Dancing With the Stars” are calling out professional dancer Sasha Farber for liking a post on social media.

The March 20 post, which was screenshotted and shared to Reddit, was supposedly shared by Tonya Harding, a former celebrity partner of Farber’s on the show in 2018. The post has since been deleted, but fans took to Reddit to talk about the post and criticize Farber for liking it.

The image in the post read “Boys have a penis. Girls have a vagina,” a quote from a notable scene in the 1990 movie “Kindergarten Cop.”


Farber Says He Liked the Image Because It Reminded Him of Childhood

In a March 20 tweet, Farber defended himself against the backlash.

“Wow it’s so funny, you see a picture online that reminds me of being a kid watching that movie with your family and people start jumping to conclusions, because you like a movie!” he wrote.

Someone responded to Farber, telling him “timing matters” and saying the post appeared the “the day after a trans woman wins an NCAA swimming title,” which was “sparking up multiple transphobic conversations.”

Lia Thomas, a fifth-year senior transgender woman at the University of Pennsylvania, finished in eighth place in the 100-yard freestyle on March 19 in the NCAA swimming championship, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Farber responded, “I had no idea, I’m so sorry. I purely liked it for the movie and the memory I had watching it as a kid with family. I didn’t even read caption I just saw the picture and it took me back many years my apologize.”

He also said that he “wanted to make everything clear” and apologized once again.

Some fans went as far as to call for “Dancing With the Stars” to fire Farber and telling him that he’d be a “sh***y bigoted parent,” and calling him “disgusting.”


The Post Was ‘Not a Shocker’ to Some

Some fans on the Reddit thread said they weren’t surprised that Farber, 37, would like the post.

“By liking that post, Sasha is essentially agreeing with the transphobic message Tonya is spreading,” one person wrote. “The quote itself is innocent in the context of the film, but it is not innocent when randomly being posted on social media with no caption. Sasha knows what he is doing.”

Another person wrote, “This isn’t a shocker. Sasha is Russian and a lot of Russian/Eastern Europeans have very conservative views as far as LGBTQ/Transgender rights goes.”

“A lot of times I think the hate against Sasha on social media is toxic and over the top, but his social media behavior like this makes it really really hard to defend him,” one reply on the thread reads.

Others stuck up for Farber, who has been on the show for nine seasons.

“I don’t think he realized it was being transphobic, he had stated it reminded him of the movie and made him nostalgic. I think he feels bad now that he knows. He already unliked it,” one person wrote. 

“Dancing With the Stars” has not yet been renewed for season 31. If it does get renewed, the show will return sometime in mid-September 2022.

READ NEXT: Which Pros Will Be Out for DWTS Season 31? Fans Weigh In

Read More
, ,