Scott Gries / © Lifetime TV / Courtesy: Everett Collection
Abby Lee Miller’s upcoming Lifetime show has been canned after her racist remarks on Dance Moms surfaced online.
In April, Miller announced Abby’s Virtual Dance Off as a competition series that would air amid the ongoing global health crisis’ shelter-at-home period. Dancers in the US were invited to submit a video that showed off their best-choreographed moves.
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While the networked never announced a premiere date for Abby’s Virtual Dance Off, the 12-episode series was expected to air this summer. However, on Friday, June 5, Entertainment Weekly published a story writing that the Lifetime series and Miller would not return to Dance Moms if the show is renewed for a ninth season.
Us Weekly reached out for comment, and a spokesperson told the outlet confirming that Lifetime will not air the show’s episodes.
On Tuesday, June 2, Miller posted to Instagram a black square in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Her gesture of solidarity was met with a wave of criticism from former Dance Moms star Adriana Smith. Smith accused Miller of making racist remarks toward her and her daughter, Kamryn, during the show’s eighth season.
“I recently posted on my FB that racism is not something we can disagree on and still be friends, which in turn is why we are not friends,” Smith wrote at the time. “A statement from [Miller] that sticks in my mind to this day during my time on DMS8 is, ‘I know you grew up in the HOOD with only a box of 8 crayons, but I grew up in the country club with a box of 64 — don’t be stupid.’”
Smith said that this particular comment “shows that you think you are better than me and in higher rank and all together superior to ME.” The Dance Moms star also claimed that this remark indicated that Miller didn’t “give a f–k about me or where I came from.”
Subsequently, Smith went on to explain how she decided to exit Dance Moms after filming her last one-on-one interview with one of the show’s producers. “As tears streamed down my face, I look over at my 7-year-old and back at the camera and say, ‘This is my EVERYDAY life as a black woman.’ This is nothing new to me. But what I’m not going to have happen is have this racist person have any part of my daughter’s life as of this moment,” she said.
On Thursday, June 4, Miller issued an apology to both Smith and her daughter via Instagram, saying, “I genuinely understand and deeply regret how my words have effected [sic] and hurt those around me in the past, particularly those in the Black community. To Kamryn, Adriana, and anyone else I’ve hurt, I am truly sorry. I realize that racism can come not just from hate, but also from ignorance. No matter what the cause, it is harmful, and it is my fault.”
She added, “While I cannot change the past or remove the harm I have done, I promise to educate myself, learn, grow, and do better. While I hope to one day earn your forgiveness, I recognize that words alone are not enough. I understand it takes time and genuine change.”
Smith said she would “not accept” Miller’s apology.