“Insensitive and disrespectful”- Dance Moms fans criticize Ashlan’s JonBenét Ramsey-inspired performance

Dance Moms: A New Era, a spin-off of the original Lifetime show, was released on August 7, 2024, on Hulu. Glo Hampton headed the show this time, instead of the long-reigning Abby Miller, which made the show even more anticipated and widely watched.

However, the very first season of the spin-off didn't come without controversy. Episode 8 of Dance Moms: A New Era titled, Glo Don’t Give with Both Hands, saw an 11-year-old contestant, Ashlan Scheide, mimic JonBenét Ramsey, a 6-year-old who was murdered in 1996.

Ashlan not only dressed like JonBenét with her costume and hair but also enacted JonBenét being strangled in her routine.

All 10 episodes of the show were released on the same day, so viewers took to Reddit to address the issue as soon as they saw it.

"Did anyone find the JonBenét Ramsey dance insensitive and disrespectful? Like the joke about her makeup and saying “you look like how she looked after she was strangled” and all the moms laughed….. my jaw was literally on the floor. Seems extremely disrespectful to that poor little girl," read a Reddit post.

"Yeah, this almost made me stop watching the show. I understand it's a well-known case and has been referenced before (ie. Black Patsy) but the way they handled it was so wrong, and asking a young child to research a case that involves the SA of a child is absolutely grotesque," read a comment.

"The worst part to me was Ashlan’s mom sharing the entire story with her. It clearly upset her. I couldn’t believe how much Ashlan looked like Jon Benet," read another comment.

"I really don't like this show. I was looking forward to it being released, but they are all nasty and disrespectful," read a third comment.

Dance Moms fans' sentiments were hurt when they saw the 6-year-old pageant star's murder coming back to life. It enraged some while others thought it was a publicity stunt and pointed out the Electricity dance performed in Pennsylvania on season 1 of the original series.

"I was so confused honestly. Like this was on the same level as Glo trauma dumping her miscarriage on these kids. I think it was in super poor taste and also somehow had literally nothing to do with the case at all. They could have made it about pageant kids in general. I think it was said just to drum up controversy in the same way that Electricity dance done in like rural Pennsylvania did in season 1 of the OG," one fan wrote.

"Yeah that 'joke' was gross and sad. Like that was a real little girl that happened to..," another fan wrote.

"Me and my family audibly gasped when Glo told Ashlyn her makeup when she was messing around looked how JonBenet probably looked after being killed. That was beyond disgusting and disturbing to me," wrote another.

"I agree, not funny at all," one fan said.

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Ashlan Schiede Dance Moms: A New Era performance inspired by Jon Benét Ramsey

Ahead of her performance on Dance Moms, Ashlan's mom went through JonBenét's case. She didn't name any names but it was implied that the story was that of JonBenét's. She told her how the 6-year-old went missing before her strangulated body was found. When the mom saw Ashlan getting sad over it, she said:

"I saw how excited she was to get that solo, I saw those wheels turning, and the negativity slipping in".

After she got details on the death of the young pageant queen, Ashlan said that she felt like it wasn't for her, but she was ready to do anything for the win on Dance Moms. This statement was evident of the fact that the 11-year-old was struck by what she heard.

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All 10 episodes of Dance Moms: A New Era are available to stream on Hulu.