So far, the anonymous Oscar ballots are revealing something we felt happening in real time: Timothee Chalamet’s Oscar campaign was a turnoff, and people weren’t wild about Marty Supreme in the first place. I would argue that if Marty Supreme was a really good movie and Chalamet’s performance was so groundbreaking or consensus-building, his cringey campaign wouldn’t have mattered. It’s the combination of a not-great film, an annoying lead performance from Chalamet PLUS his terrible Oscar campaign – all of it worked against him and sunk his Oscar chances.
Funnier still, Chalamet is now being dragged to hell and back because of comments he recently made to CNN. In the middle of a conversation about keeping movie theaters alive, Chalamet mused: “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore.’ All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership.” He said that on February 24th, but it’s just in the past three days or so that his comments went viral in a bad way. Now the ballet community and opera community have joined forces to destroy Timothee Chalamet and promote their wonderful fields.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on Friday, a spokesperson from the U.K.’s flagship opera house countered Chalamet’s claims. The Royal Ballet and Opera said: “Ballet and opera have never existed in isolation — they have continually informed, inspired, and elevated other art forms. Their influence can be felt across theatre, film, contemporary music, fashion, and beyond. For centuries, these disciplines have shaped the way artists create and audiences experience culture, and today millions of people around the world continue to enjoy and engage with them.”
American opera singer Isabel Leonard also responded to the clip. She wrote in a comment about the Chalamet video: “Honestly, I’m shocked that someone so seemingly successful can be so ineloquent and narrow-minded in his views about art while considering himself as [an] artist as I would only imagine one would as an actor. To take cheap shots at fellow artists says more in this interview than anything else he could say. Shows a lot about his character,” she continued. “You don’t have to like all art but only a weak person/artist feels the need to diminish in fact the VERY arts that would inspire those who are interested in slowing down, to do exactly that.”
Elsewhere, Canadian opera singer Deepa Johnny called it a “disappointing take” and said: “There is nothing more impressive than the magic of live theatre, ballet and opera. We should be trying to uplift these art forms, these artists and come together across disciplines to do that.”
Irish opera singer Seán Tester posted on his Instagram to say that Chalamet’s choice of words “is the kind of reductive take you hear when popularity is mistaken for cultural value. They are not outdated art forms. They are living ones, constantly reinterpreted, constantly evolving … It’s always fascinating when artists with global platforms dismiss opera and ballet as irrelevant. Opera and ballet have survived wars … To call these art forms irrelevant says far less about the art itself than it does about how little time someone has spent truly experiencing it.”
All of these well-spoken clapbacks… hook it into my veins, I love it. Seán Tester’s comments are amazing, Isabel Leonard’s comments are f–king awesome. I love all of this, this is such a fun controversy!!! I love that all of these really amazing artists – especially performing artists at the top of their industries – are really letting people know that their art is still living and breathing and vital. Millions of people around the world still love ballet and opera and classical concerts. These are not “dead” art forms. I’m including some of the responses to Chalamet below, there’s so much great stuff happening.
SCREAMING pic.twitter.com/C2ghiJErf5
— Audra McDonalds Oscar Campaign Manager (@_AllThatJaz) March 7, 2026
la manera que están arrastrando a timothee chalamet 😭 pic.twitter.com/HVXd6tcXgU
— ؘjuandi (@poxelse) March 7, 2026
The Metropolitan Opera has thrown shade Timothée Chalamet’s way after the actor said “no one cares” about the ballet or opera as reason why he doesn’t work in the fields.
“This one's for you, Timothée Chalamet…” pic.twitter.com/G6tWSPrsx9
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 7, 2026
Jamie Lee Curtis took to Instagram Stories to share this video. pic.twitter.com/XETDwE1UNs
— Films to Films (@filmstofilms_) March 7, 2026
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Celebs attend the 79th BAFTA British Academy Film Awards,Image: 1077508250, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Timothee Chalamet, Credit line: Phil Lewis/Wenn/Avalon
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- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – MARCH 01: Timothee Chalamet wearing custom Prada arrives at the 32nd Annual Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA (formerly Screen Actors Guild Awards) held at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on March 1, 2026 in Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1079562069, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Timothee Chalamet, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
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- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – MARCH 01: Timothee Chalamet (Timothée Chalamet) wearing custom Prada arrives at the 32nd Annual Actor Awards Presented by SAG-AFTRA (formerly Screen Actors Guild Awards) held at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall on March 1, 2026 in Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 1079998596, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Timothee Chalamet, Timothée Chalamet, Credit line: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Avalon
I attended a ballet version of Hamlet recently, it was riveting, I couldn’t take my eyes off the stage.
This is pretty dumb of him but that head of his has gotten way too big. Will be interesting to see how he gets through the Oscar’s.
Weren’t the women in his family either dancers or ballerinas? Where is this coming from? That being said, anyone BUT him for the Oscar, please.
Maybe he has insider knowledge or his family may have told him things that drove him to his statement.
As if opera and ballet are dying, which they’re not. Couldn’t the same argument be made for movie theaters?
Lol what “insider knowledge”?? I live on an island with a theatre and they have internationally renown ballets often and they are ALWAYS sold out.
We don’t get news on box office numbers of ballets, theatre, opera but to say they are dying is just being grossly misinformed and living in a tiny Hollywood bubble.
This boy knows nothing because he hangs with the Jenner clan.
His “insider” knowledge is this: His mother in her younger years was a dancer in NY and she attended Laguardia High School for the Performing Arts. His grandmother was also a dancer. He attended Laguardia High School, same as his older sister who studied dance and acting. The family qualified as performing artists to live in subsidized housing in NY’s Theatre District, as did the grandmother who lived down the hall from them. The father is a journalist and the mother is now a real estate agent, but Timothee’s upbringing was steeped in being around performing artists, studying performing arts, and attending performances around NYC.
I can’t imagine what his parents think about his bone headed comments.
Yup. Mom, Grandmother and Sister..
Omg. The use Timothee promo code to get 14% off tickets. That is funny.
It does feel like this controversy came out too late to affect the voting. And even though some anonymous voters weren’t all about Timmy doesn’t mean his chances are zero. Imagine if he wins. The orchestra of the show might go on strike right there in the moment.
The promo code had me rolling this morning. I needed a good laugh too.
Love that promo code! lol
I’m dead at the promo code!
This idiot made social media so much fun this weekend! All of the ballet, Tom Holland, Gregory Hines, and Mikhail Baryshnikov content is captivating!
Just used it to snag Carmen tickets for my husband and I! Thanks, bruh. Next can you trash talk commercial airlines? I’d like a discount code for my next trip.
My fave comment.
Opera and ballet have existed for centuries. Marty Supreme didn’t make it to the end of Oscar season.
I do not have the eloquence or the vocabulary to describe how much i hated that movie.
@Danbury – I am glad to know this because I viscerally hated the mere previews of it and could not bring myself to go see it!
Too young, too immature. Unworthy.
THIS
He’s 30, he’s a grown man.
Age wise he might be 30, maturity wise he’s 4.
Timothee thinks he’s god’s gift sent on earth. The whole campaign for an oscar was cringe but not as cringe as his lack of humility.
Timmy is irrelevant to me (I haven’t seen anything he’s been in) and I certainly don’t care about him or his career. However I go to about a dozen classical concerts – including opera – every year. I’d go to more opera but it’s very expensive. So yeah,Timmy, i do care about it.
I’m pretty sure opera and ballet will still be around achieving amazing artistry long after anyone knows who daf*k Timothee Chalamet is.
Exactly this. I love this journey into irrelevance for him.
All those big, reputable international companies showcasing their very best singers, dancers, orchestras — and all the people who make these shows possible, the dressmakers, carpenters, light technicians, painters…
I love how many people dug out comments from actors like Tom Holland and Anya Taylor Joy who said that ballet helped them a lot with their acting — the discipline, the posture, the flexibility of movements.
Plus all the clips of Tom Holland pirouetting through life, or Elle Fanning on pointe, Brie Larsen in a tutu — or Carrie Bradshaw’s boyfriend showing off the fact that he’s one of the best ever, be it in White Nights or Don Quixote.
Own goal, Mr Shallowmet.
Don’t forget Alexander Godunow (may he rest in power). So many people on Threads were flabbergasted that Karl from Die Hard was a dancer!
So many great actors were/are dancers. Can perform on stage, singing, dancing, acting.
Timothee is an ignorant fool. And not even good looking.
Adding the massively talented Mads Mikkelsen to the list.
Also forgot to mention Christopher Walken.
Compilations of his greatest routines are always fun to watch.
… and Charlize Theron, Patrick Swayze
If we actually started looking, we’d find many more.
We also must remember the late, great Patrick Swayze
The eloquence in the responses from the opera singers master class and the promo code was chef’s kiss. His arrogance and lack of refinement were shown here. I am not surprised, he is dating a Kardashian after all. And he needs to be careful because he may become as irrelevant as the extra E at the end of his first name.
Well said, totally agree! I too think that the Kardashian/ Jenner association was bound to be a mistake. What an own goal to show how shallow and uninformed he is!
Opera and ballet attract class. Timotee openly cavorts with a kajenner. Oil and water.
To me, the funniest part is that he said it like it’s a business decision. Like he could have been a famous opera singer or ballet dancer but decided there was more money in acting.
Timothée Chalamet lost all credibility in my eyes when he did not know the story of Samson and Delilah on Graham Norton. I am enjoying this development immensely.
Could this be a right wing pivot Ala Sydney Sweeney? Go where the money is at??
What’s really funny about this is that he really loses all appeal without the hair. It points out his weak little mustache and disdainful expression. He is like Samson without his hair!
He was quite pretty a few years ago, but as he ages he’s just going to look like a little pie-faced gnome.
I’ve never been to a ballet performance that wasn’t full house, but I have watched movies in empty theaters.
Well said! Me either, add to that symphony orchestras, because you just know he hates classical music as well.
Exactly this! I’ve been lucky that I’ve seen the Royal Ballet several times(and did a backstage tour, well recommended, our group passed a guy our tourguide greeted him and when he was out of earshot our guide told us that that was the ‘real’Billy Elliot(as in he inspired the story)), packed house every time but they always made sure cheaper seats were available.
I cannot unsee how much Timee reminds me of Shia LaBeouf.
Yes!!!
I am not a movie person – hard for me not to fall asleep in the middle of one. But I am a hardcore fan of live performances, especially anything featuring an orchestra. As the quoted performers said, there is just something magical about art happening live on stage. Chalamet is a loser.
For someone who grew up in NYC and went to a public performing arts high school, he should be ashamed of himself. It’s been awesome — and hilarious— to see such creative clapbacks to Chalamet’s arrogant and ignorant comments . May his comeuppance be as public as his sophomoric comments.
That’s what really gets me about this. He had SO much cache when we all thought he was artsy and would amount to something really special. Joining the KarJenner klan was the first sign, and then it was baby steps and one giant leap into proving to us he’s just a Hollywood bro.
I’m loving the responses from the ballet and opera community.
From what I’m seeing, it’s not just the ballet and opera communities that are calling him out…it’s the entire arts community! Love to see it.
Ah yes a crappy comment finished with “with all due respect “ means much disrespect. He deserves the backlash his very inflated ego deserves. Not a fan of his.
That part. The “with all due respect” is the equivalent of saying “no offense” right before causing offense.
I’ve travelled to other countries to go see an opera in their famous (and packed) opera houses, and I’ve never seen a single Timothee Chalamet movie. He’s a narrow-minded, stunted in adolescence little twerp, and he can go kick rocks.
Oooh, have you ever seen something at La Scala? I’ve always wanted to see something there.
No, too hard to get tickets during the limited time I can get there. But Covent Garden, Vienna (two great Opera theatres there), Arena di Verona. I had tickets for the Met in March 2020 (lolsob). Someday La Scala, maybe when I retire and can travel anytime.
@Genevieve: Someday!
I attend performances at the Boston ballet at least twice a year – one of my friends has season tickets, but money is something that holds me back from going more – and the house is always full (and we don’t go to the Nutcracker). I’ve always thought he seemed a pretentious little twit. And his comments immediately jumping from art to $.14 in viewership indicate that he ties art’s value to its commercial success, which is an insight into his character I don’t think he meant to give.
He wants to sell movie tickets at the end of the day. Which isn’t a bad thing and studio owners like that. But yeah that doesn’t mean art that has a smaller audience is necessarily less worthy. Whatever point he was trying to make just didn’t land. Probably bc he came across as dismissive with the 14% comment.
Not even 14%! 14 cents! Like the people are actually money to him. So gross.
I found that losing 14 cents comment particularly snotty.
Dena, if you didn’t see it yet, I highly recommend Boston Ballet’s current Winter Experience. It’s only 2 modern pieces so it’s a relatively short program but both were absolutely phenomenal. The orchestra was fantastic too. Yesterday’s crowd was on its feet and cheering madly at the end of each piece.
I would think so much less of him for these comments except after finding out he has his private chef on set make him 3 breakfasts and then throws away two of them that, well, my opinion of him can’t get any lower.
WTAF is this? this is wild
for all the people who didnt see what he had in common with his girlfriend, they may be perfect for each other
Oh the more I see and hear of him the more clear it is that he’s a Kardashian through and through. Not by blood, but otherwise? 😬
I think this was on the set of Wonka – the chef said it and another actor confirmed it, but I don’t know if Timothee still does this.
He’s got Matt Damonitis. He thinks he’s being a frank and honest pundit but he’s just exposing himself as an entitled idiot.
Matt Damon has a genius level IQ. Timothee Chalamet doesn’t.
Interesting – there are not many here who cape for Matt Damon. 🤔
They probably don’t know him
Matt Damon, with “genius level IQ” who said there’s “a difference between patting someone on the butt and rape or child molestation. Both of those behaviours need to be confronted and eradicated without question, but they shouldn’t be conflated.” Then added it’s “wonderful that women are feeling empowered to tell their stories and it’s totally necessary”. But he said: “We live in this culture of outrage and injury, that we’re going to have to correct enough to kind of go, ‘Wait a minute. None of us came here perfect.’”
Good thing his former co-star, Minnie Driver, tweeted back “God God, seriously?” Then expanded on that in ABC News interview that men “simply cannot understand what abuse is like on a daily level…Gosh it’s so interesting (profoundly unsurprising) how men with all these opinions about women’s differentiation between sexual misconduct, assault and rape reveal themselves to be utterly tone deaf and as a result, systemically part of the problem.”
So, do you think we should conflate a pat on the butt with rape and child molestation? Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. Minnie Driver is an ex gf of Matt’s. So she may have a bias.
First the cat-hating actress, and now this idiot, criticizing the opera and ballet. The Oscars might need a new category, like the contrarian or iconoclast award or something.
I consider the Oscars borderline irrelevant, because theatrical release films are increasingly the least interesting entertainment around. There are always bold exceptions – like Sinners which has my full attention this Oscar season – but in general if they continue to elevate mediocrity, they’re just calling themselves out.
SM has dug up clips of him saying the same thing as far back as 2019, so he’s been this ignorant for awhile. I’m glad to finally have something to justify my dislike of him. I’ve never felt he was that good of an actor.
Patrick Swayze coming back from the Beyond to kick Timmy’s a$$
Makes even more sense that he’s dating a Kardashian..after all they’re famous for being talentless. I said to some one years ago that reality tv was contributing to the death of the performing arts and this punk’s attitude just proves it.
I guess he’s never heard that old maxim that struggle is what motivates creativity.
From someone who doesn’t yet grasp that their view isn’t the worldview…
Ah yes, little Timmy, let’s just kill all artforms that you’re not personall equipped to understand… Let’s all of us just live on a diet of Love Island and Kartrashians because that’s the only thing that “sells”… He’s such an idiot and he definitely believes his own hype. I think since the Dylan movie he actually thinks he’s Bob Dylan or something. Little sh*t
This guy isn’t even the best Paul Atreides out there.
He seems to have some kind of chip on his shoulder tied to his upbringing as the child of a dancer and a journalist. Growing up in NYC, in a subsidized apartment building full of people who make their living in the arts, sounds like a dream to most of of us. But by Manhattan private school or even public magnet school standards, he would have been one of the less financially privileged kids. He might have always felt like despite their advantages, his family had their noses pressed against the window of immense wealth.
Which is not an excuse for being so snide and dismissive of ballet and opera. But I can understand how (if not why) he became too focused on celebrity and money. My sister’s kids grew up in New York just a few years ahead of Timmy. It changed so much from my childhood to my young adulthood. I lived in the suburbs but NYC was “The City” and where we expected to live and work after college. But the days when a journalist or government lawyer or even a family doctor with a busy practice could thrive financially and maybe raise a family alongside a banker or private firm lawyer seemed to be past.
That’s just my guess. I don’t know this kid but I suspect he’s at least a bit like his Marty Supreme character. And I appreciate that he’s talented and works hard at his craft. I just think he needs to slow down and reflect a bit.
I admit that I said uh oh when I heard that Matthew said what he said. Man, that was a misstep heard round the world. Speaking of keeping something alive, though, some people’s careers have come to a screeching stop from just such missteps. I just can’t think of anything more passionate than ballet and opera, and people who go to see these works of art are passionate about them. I still hope to make it to the Glasgow ballet to see one of Sir Matthew Bourne’s ballets, like his Romeo and Juliet. His reimagining of Swan Lake was incredible. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen the dance of the little swans danced by men stomping across the stage in combat boots. That was hysterical and incredible at the same time. There are no greater athletes than ballet dancers. Bourne’s company New Adventures tour Internationally. This can still be saved, though. What I really would like to see is a magnificent mea culpa staged and choreographed by Sir Matthew Bourne with Timothe bursting upon the stage in tights and tutu and singing an aria and saying I’m sorry. I made a mistake. I’m still young, though. I can make amends.
Oh dear. I made a mistake. It’s Timothee instead of Matthew, and I misspelled it. I was thinking of Matthew McConnaughey’s response.
First I just opened this article for the hilarious (Seattle Opera !) and other well-considered clapbacks to an egotist’s thoughtless statement.
But,
Secondly, I discover he’s throwing away twice as much breakfast as he eats. Ugh. Wasteful. Bad for the environment. Bad for climate change.
Then,
Thirdly, I find out about Glasgow Ballet, Sir Matthew Bourne, and Bourne’s touring company New Adventures. Wow. Interesting.
He’s being dragged by the theatre community too, and we have extremely long memories.
That last video pointed out something I’ve been wondering about–why hasn’t Matthew McConaughey getting the same kind of heat as Chalamet? He snorted & laughed his agreement.
I’ve also been enjoying all the responses. That Seattle Opera discount code is perfection!
I just don’t get what people see in him. Never found him attractive, and he’s a mediocre actor at best. These days, he’s a Kardashian/Jenner with European branding.
I’ll say this over and over, but think his character in Ladybird was… accurate.
I can only hope this means votes for him will go to other, more deserving, Best Actor nominees. @Beech mentioned above the decline of movie theather attendance and I’ll point out the merger of big studios like Warner with Paramount and Fox with Disney spell out a much more limited future for him and other actors.
Never understood the appeal of this man 😔 he has always looked weaselish to me. His comments are asinine and show someone who is a cultural illiterate. And he’s French! Absolutely astonishing comments 😮
Anyone who thought he was “dating down” was mistaken, intellectually they’ve always been at the same level
Seriously… he sounds like a spoiled dilettante right now.
He has lived a life of such extreme white privilege and has grown up to be such an unappreciative, arrogant little shit. His Mom is a former broadway dancer and his Dad is a journalist who has also been involved in UNICEF. He lived in a federally subsidized artists building as a child. He attended the performing arts high school made famous in Fame. It just boggles my mind that someone from that background would proudly spout magat bulletin points for defunding the arts. Ballet and opera have existed for centuries and will continue to exist. Does anyone really believe the current movie theater model is sustainable? Private equity and capitalism have made movie going desperately unpleasant and expensive. No one wants to pay $50 for tickets/snacks to sit in a theater with a sticky floor among the unmasked masses obnoxiously talking and playing on their phones, Timmy. Ballet, opera and orchestra concert goers typically behave a lot better and will survive.
I liked Colin Jost’s joke about how Timothee said ballet and opera were art forms nobody cares about anymore while promoting a movie about…ping pong.
He must not know how hard it is to get tickets to the ballet and opera! A lawyer I used to work with bought a place in NYC so she could go to the opera more often. I’ve timed my visits to Vienna and London around certain performances. Just because he doesn’t go, doesn’t mean no one else does, bless his heart.
Super impressed you’ve been to Vienna and the opera there. I want to go.
How he went from the sweet, sensitive Elio in “Call Me By Your Name” to this alt-right, manosphere creep needs to be studied. *TYRA BANKS VOICE* I was rooting for you, we we all rooting for you, how dare you!!! I disagree with the consensus and I thought he was great in Marty Supreme and I was hoping for him to prevail on Oscar night. But maybe he was so good because he didn’t have to reach very hard to portray a narcissistic @$$hole. He’s lost all of his goodwill with me.
I just re-watched Angelina Jolie’s beautiful work in “Maria” (I’m still salty about that snub!) and Timmy’s insensitivity pisses me off even more. These are just gross, unnecessary comments that give me Joe Rogan teas and I’m pretty sure we’ve all had enough of that garbage after these past few years.
Isnt his Mother and Grandmother former Ballerina’s ? AND his Sister too! Wow! LOL I like him but also love that everyone and their mother is dragging him. BYE BYE OSCAR!
Probably because McConaughey doesn’t hold himself out (or at least have the public persona of holding himself out) as a pretentious artiste. He wants respect as a good actor, and he is one, but he’s never run around mocking his time as a rom com hunk or tried to get away from “alright alright alright.” Not sure anyone out there would expect MM to be a ballet and opera afficionado