Current:Home > reviewsSafeX Pro:Charity Lawson recalls 'damaging' experience on 'DWTS,' 'much worse' than 'Bachelorette' -TrueNorth Finance Path
SafeX Pro:Charity Lawson recalls 'damaging' experience on 'DWTS,' 'much worse' than 'Bachelorette'
PredictIQ Quantitative Think Tank Center View
Date:2025-04-10 21:09:16
Charity Lawson is coming forward about her "damaging" experience as a Black woman competing on SafeX Pro"Dancing With the Stars."
The Season 20 "Bachelorette" lead shared on former "DWTS" pro Cheryl Burke's "Sex, Lies and Spray Tans" podcast episode Monday that she "went through hell and back with my mental health" while on Season 32 of the dancing competition show.
Lawson, who came in fourth place with professional dance partner Artem Chigvintsev, said she was being relentlessly bullied by fans and was not protected by network executives.
Burke remarked that she found that shocking, to which the child and family therapist responded, "Is it shocking? I don't know if it's shocking. I think to a certain degree it was expected."
Lawson explained that coming from the backlash she got on "The Bachelor" and "The Bachelorette," she thought "DWTS" would "be a piece of cake" – but it ended up being "so much worse."
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.
USA TODAY has reached out to reps for "DWTS."
"I was getting death threats for existing … for not performing enough, for being conceited, for being entitled," Lawson recalled. "It was so damaging, night in, night out."
The former "DWTS" contestant added that while she "blocked and filtered" damaging comments on her Instagram page, the show's official account did not, even after Chigvintsev brought up the issue to executives.
Cheryl Burkerecalls 'Dancing With the Stars' fans making her feel 'too fat for TV'
Lawson began to cry as she recalled her experience, sharing that she decided to now speak out to highlight "the difference that I have to go through this life as a Black woman and being on a reality TV show. It's like the same things are just not protected."
"There were weeks where I'd come home from rehearsal where I'm like, 'I literally hope I forget my steps and get voted off.' … It's a really dark place," she recalled.
The family therapist added that the way her video packages were edited did not help with likeability amongst voters.
"It's shaped this way that I was boasting and bragging about my scores but I'm only talking about them because you guys asked me," Lawson said. "That was really frustrating when I started to see my packages painted in this way. It's almost skewing the viewers in this way of, 'All she cares about are scores' (and) ‘She thinks she's better than everyone.'"
Burke concluded by asking Lawson whether she thought her race impacted her outcome on "DWTS," to which she simply responded, "Yeah."
veryGood! (74)
Related
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Organizers of recall targeting a top Wisconsin Republican appeal to court
- RHOC's Alexis Bellino Shares Major Update on Upcoming John Janssen Engagement
- US women’s coach Emma Hayes sidesteps equal pay question if high-priced star takes over American men
- Federal appeals court upholds $14.25 million fine against Exxon for pollution in Texas
- Mare of Easttown Producer Gordon Gray's Daughter Charlotte Dies at 13 of Rare Neurodegenerative Disorder
- Second gentleman Doug Emhoff tests positive for COVID
- John Cena Announces Retirement From WWE
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- NASA crew emerges from simulated Mars mission after more than a year in isolation
Ranking
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- 2 dead and 19 injured after Detroit shooting, Michigan State Police say
- For-profit college in Chicago suburbs facing federal review abruptly shuts down
- Simone Biles' Husband Jonathan Owens Honors Her With New Ring Finger Tattoo
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- American citizen working for drone company injured in Israel
- John Cena Announces Retirement From WWE
- How bad is inflation, really? A fresh look at the economy and CPI this week
Recommendation
Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
Israeli military takes foreign journalists into Rafah to make a case for success in its war with Hamas
Texas power outage tracker: 2.4 million outages reported after Hurricane Beryl makes landfall
Shaboozey makes history again with 'A Bar Song (Tipsy),' earns first Hot 100 No. 1 spot on Billboard
Highlights from Trump’s interview with Time magazine
Christine Brown Shares Message About Finding Courage After Kody Brown Split
'House of the Dragon' spoiler: Aemond actor on that killer moment
Is it a hurricane or a tropical storm? Here’s a breakdown of extreme weather terms