Was Sarah Palin booed on ‘DWTS’? Depends whom you ask

Michael Calderone
·Media Reporter
Was Sarah Palin booed?
Was Sarah Palin booed?

Actress Jennifer Grey posed a good question after her performance on Monday night's "Dancing With the Stars." "Why is everyone booing?" she asked. Co-host Brooke Burke also noticed the booing and said she didn't know what prompted it, either.

But the next camera shot may have revealed why the audience started jeering: Co-host Tom Bergeron was about to interview Sarah Palin, on hand to root for daughter Bristol. In this intense political environment, are even prime time dance competitions becoming a venue for political debate?

[Video: Did Bristol embarrass her mom?]

Bergeron, later on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," said he was "mostly" sure the booing wasn't directed at Palin. He said the audience was probably upset that Grey's scores weren't higher — though Grey got the highest scores of the night.

A number of bloggers and Twitter users didn't buy that explanation. Andrew Sullivan, a prominent blogger and Palin critic who doesn't usually write about reality television, ran the headline "Palin Was Booed on DWTS" and linked to a "first-hand report" on the blog Sarah Palin is a Phony (which consists of exactly one post -- the one Sullivan linked to). And Jezebel tackled the boos by looking at Palin's reaction frame by frame, complete with a generous helping of mockery.

Mainstream media outlets including CNN and MSNBC also wrote about the controversy.

On the conservative site HotAir, blogger Allahpundit wrote that the controversy was obvious evidence that it's a "painfully slow news day" and argued that "ABC's explanation makes more sense."

[Photos: Bristol Palin | Sarah Palin]

So was Palin booed? Watch the video from Kimmel's show (including a recording of the boos), courtesy of ABC News:

Palin, who has plenty of detractors in the political arena, has been booed in the past when stepping out of it. Philadelphia Flyers fans weren't too pleased to see Palin in the rink during the 2008 campaign.

(Photo of Bristol Palin and partner Mark Ballas on "Dancing With the Stars": ABC/Adam Larkey)

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