16-Year-Old Girl With Down Syndrome Suing Valentin Chmerkovskiy From ‘DWTS’ For $6 Million

Valentin Chmerkovskiy, or Val for short, is in hot water right now. He posted a meme, a photo made into a meme, of a 16-year-old girl with Down Syndrome, who is also obese, on social media a couple of weeks ago with the caption on the meme that read, “Letting your kid become obese should be considered child abuse.”

Now, because of posting that meme, according to Page Six, Val is being sued by the young girl for a hefty $6 million. She is also suing CBS for retweeting it for another $6 million and is suing the photographer who took the picture of her while she was at a baseball game, back in 2008, drinking a soda, for $600,000!

The photo was made into a meme by the person who took the picture of her, and the photographer also made that caption up to be posted along with the meme of the young girl. According to TMZ, Val also said along with posting the meme, “Everything that is wrong with America.”

Page Six also stated that the girl’s mother literally begged Val to delete the meme of the girl, saying her daughter was humiliated by it. The girl is suing for emotional distress, defamation of character, and invasion of privacy, according to Rickey.

Anyone would be humiliated by someone posting a photo of them like that!

https://www.facebook.com/ValChmerkovskiy/photos/a.468622199895785.1073741825.145671645524177/958074594283874/?type=3&theater

Medscape says children with Down Syndrome are more susceptible to obesity for several reasons. One reason is because they aren’t as active as their siblings. Some reasons for them not being as active as their “normal” siblings is because they sometimes rebel against their parents who try to get them to be as active or even more active than their “normal” siblings, especially as they get older and turn into teenagers. Most teenagers are like this anyway!

Medscape also says that although they do the same activities as their siblings who don’t have Down Syndrome, they don’t do these activities with as much physical intensity. Children with Down Syndrome also have a higher Body Mass Index, or BMI, than their siblings who don’t have Down Syndrome. This leads many to think this is one of the main reasons for becoming obese.

Children with Down Syndrome, according to Medscape, also have other behavior problems that are associated with the condition that causes them to become obese as well. Some of these behavioral problems include negativity, impulsivity, oppositional behavior, inattention, noncompliance, and disobedience, especially as they get older.

This is why it is so important for their parents to encourage them to be more physically active and to not eat or drink any junk. It can be hard to keep a child from eating junk all the time, though.

Although Val might have meant well when he posted the meme of the girl, researching about a condition is always better than judging other people. He did delete the meme from social media but not without judging the girl’s mother first, telling her that she is not taking care of her child in the right way if she is letting her become obese and that children are defenseless and it is up to the parents to help them stay on the right track. Here is what he said to the girl’s mother exactly,

“I am truly sorry for the lack of sensitivity….You’re handicapping your kid, and they’re defenseless. They don’t know better. That’s why you’re there.”

What do you think of Val posting this meme of this girl on social media for everyone to see? Sound off on this with your opinion.

[Photo by Slavin Vlasic/Getty Images]