Andy Cohen is taking accountability for shading Dancing With the Stars newbie Julia Stiles’ choreography in the classic movie Save the Last Dance.
“Tonight’s Jackhole [of the Day] goes to me for comments I made about Julia Stiles on the radio last year,” the TV host, 58, announced to Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen viewers on Wednesday, September 16. “Julia, I am so sorry!”
The drama between the WWHL host and Stiles came up during the second half of DWTS’ two-night premiere on Wednesday as Julia discussed her hesitancy around dancing.
“Andy Cohen, do you know him?” Julia, 45, asked her pro partner Ezra Sosa in the rehearsal room. “[His] quote is imprinted in my brain.”
Dancing With the Stars cut to a clip from Andy’s Sirius XM radio show from 2025, in which he was interviewing Julia’s Save the Last Dance costar Kerry Washington.
“Can we all just agree that Julia Stiles is not the greatest dancer on the planet?” Andy asked Kerry, 49. “It was her big Juilliard audition [in the movie]!”
Kerry chuckled over Andy’s joke before pointing out that Julia’s climactic dance sequence was choreographed by industry legend Fatima Robinson.
“[Fatima] was choreographing that dance within a specific cultural context … Greatness goes through different eras,” Kerry pointed out in her chat with Andy.
Back in the DWTS rehearsal room, Julia admitted to partner Ezra, 25, that she shied away from dancing in recent years because she felt pressure to live up to Save the Last Dance. (Julia starred in the 2001 romantic drama as a 17-year-old ballerina who embraces contemporary dance to land a spot at the prestigious Juilliard School.)
“I am not a professional dancer by any means. I just played one in a movie,” Julia told Ezra. “It was doubled [by another dancer], by the way. I stopped taking dance classes because people expected me to be this perfect dancer.”
While she’s now embracing her love of dance once again, Julia also admitted that she thinks of winning Dancing With the Stars as a way to settle her beef with Andy.
“We’re gonna win the mirrorball and sit on Andy’s [Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen] couch and be like, ‘Hey,’” she vowed.
Hours after the DWTS segment aired, Andy addressed Julia’s hurt feelings during his “Jackhole of the Day” segment on WWHL. (The late-night staple usually involves Andy poking fun at a public figure involved in controversy.)
“I am the last person who should be giving anyone feedback on their dancing,” Andy quipped.
Andy then showed some hilarious footage of himself at a concert, wearing a tie-dye T-shirt as he grooved to the music.
“Great job, Julia Stiles, you killed it tonight,” Andy declared. “You did amazing tonight and I know you’re going to have a great run. This diva gives all of you permission to flood my inbox with the ten things you hate about me!”
The 10 Things I Hate About You actress and Ezra made a solid first impression during the second half of Dancing With the Stars’ two-night premiere, earning a score of 18 out of 30 from the judges for their quickstep set to “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton. (Judge Derek Hough joked that Andy can “eat it” during his critique of Julia and Ezra, calling their routine “beautiful [and] graceful.”)
Prior to Wednesday’s kickoff show, Julia exclusively told Us on September 2 that Save the Last Dance did not “prepare” her at all for the ballroom.
“First of all, I have not gone to a dance class. I stopped taking dance classes after that movie because I was so self conscious,” she explained. “I can see how tense I was in that movie.”
The actress added, “This is my chance to free myself from all that and just enjoy the experience and learn something new with an amazing partner at the top of his game. It’s a dream, a total dream.”
Dancing With the Stars season 35 airs on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
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