Going into the 2026 Academy Awards, Timothée Chalamet was favored to win the Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in the recent blockbuster film, “Marty Supreme,” but after a poor slip of the tongue, his opportunity was quickly lost.
A mere two weeks before the Academy Awards, Chalamet was speaking in an interview with fellow actor Matthew McConaughey when he said, “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive,’ even though it’s like, no one cares about this thing anymore.”
Seconds after this claim, it seemed as though Chalamet realized his mistake by saying, “All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there,” and, “I just lost 14 cents in viewership.”
Despite this instant rebuttal, the damage had been done. Critics of Chalamet’s work sprang to life with tweets, posts, reels, and various articles about the misogynistic views held by this actor, who had seemed to be on a path towards greatness, but quickly plummeted due to a single sentence.
Following this statement, Chalamet lost the favor of the public eye, facing hateful comments online leading up to the Academy Awards, as he was no longer predicted to win. This showed no respite at the ceremony, as many actors and comedians on stage made jokes and small remarks in support of the ballet and opera communities, resolute not to let Chalamet forget what he said.
The cries of the fans and predictions of millions were correct as Chalamet ended the night with no awards to show for his performance, having lost the Best Actor category to Michael B. Jordan.
In a matter of moments, Chalamet had degraded the hours of work and training put in by millions of performers of both ballet and opera, belittling them to nothing more than a dying form of art. The words that Chalamet conveyed were dripping with misogyny and hypocrisy, as ballet and opera are two art forms beyond the complexity of acting.
Fans across the country have deduced Chalamet’s statement, taking in every word and wondering what truly prompted him to say that. At that moment, was there no better way for him to speak his thoughts without disgracing his own name in the eyes of thousands of avid supporters of the arts?
The roots of performing arts stem from early performances of ballet and vocal opera, having built up the entertainment industry under the influence of those powerful art forms. Chalamet’s recent movie musical, “Wonka,” features performances of song and dance, making it bold and inconsiderate of him to discredit the works that allowed him to build his career.
Chalamet’s career pales in comparison to the influence that ballet and opera have had on culture, as Sophomore Joyce Zhang said, “I don’t want to hear anything from someone who acted in a ping pong movie that no one cares about.”
Likewise, Chalamet’s roots come from the grounds of ballet performance, as his grandmother, mother, and sister are all professional ballerinas. Their success and hard work in the ballet industry is what gave Chalamet his opportunities, and he chose to repay them by discrediting the hard work they put into their performance form.
This disgrace to those who are close to them displays his true mindset regarding his own inflated ego, as Junior Tory Johnson said, “Knowing that his own mother and his grandmother have worked in that area of art makes his statement even more diabolical. People who specialize, study, and put their lives into that craft have every right to be offended by what he said. Ultimately, he really is just ignorant, and his comment reflected his true character.”
Theatres across the world will hold grand operas or magnificent ballet performances, and these events are always in high demand. Tickets sell for astronomical prices, and every seat in the house is filled with an anticipatory fan who is waiting for the stage lights to dim and to witness the work of art that performers have spent countless hours and gone through gruesome methods of training to share.
Meanwhile, movie theatres are often bare-bones empty after the opening weekend. It is no secret that the cinema industry is in a rough spot and faces box office plummets, but in the face of depression, ballet and opera have always been a cherished and booming center of society and culture.
In saying that nobody cares about dying forms of art, which are very much alive, Chalamet instantly belittled opera singers and ballet dancers who have spent their lives training for their performances. To be a part of either of those fields of art, you have to devote yourself to the craft from a young age, with countless hours of rehearsal and private lessons to prove yourself as the best in the field.
Chalamet’s misogynistic views plummeted him to the bottom of many rankings, plaguing his career with the public outcry that arose in defense of ballet and opera, proving him wrong, that those art forms are indeed alive and thriving. Perhaps next time he should reevaluate the influence that some of the oldest performing arts had on his career and the society he lives in before he decides to ostracize the community.