The real reason Timothée Chalamet lost Oscar has nothing to do with ballet comments

Michael B. Jordan beat Timothée Chalamet for the Best Actor Oscar this year, and it wasn’t because of Timothée’s problematic comments about the opera and ballet industry.

Timothée played the titular character in Marty Supreme, a movie he relentlessly promoted since its release in December. He’s done everything from collaborating with underground artist EsDeeKid to modelling his Marty Supreme jacket everywhere and showing up at pop-ups across the world.

Here’s what Timothée actually said

In one of his press appearances, Timothée commented on the arts, which rubbed many people the wrong way. During a conversation with veteran actor Matthew McConaughey at a CNN and Variety town hall, he made what some people have said was a dig at ballet and opera.

Timothée Chalamet really lost an Oscar award because of this 😭 pic.twitter.com/1hLQ3BOJVS

— juju 💰 (@ayeejuju) March 16, 2026

“I admire people, and I’ve done it myself, doing a talk show about how we’ve got to keep movie theatres alive, you know, we’ve got to keep this genre alive,” he said.  “And another part of me feels like, if people want to see it, like Barbie, like Oppenheimer, they’re going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it.”

Timothée continued: “And 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 no one cares about this any more.”

He did clarify that he respects the artist behind traditional art, especially as his sister and mum were both classically trained ballet dancers.

Me and Timothee Chalamet got the same amount of Oscars pic.twitter.com/18J6fmKvpN

— 🌧️ (@wstgoat7) March 16, 2026

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“All respect to the ballet and opera people out there, I just lost 14 cents in viewership, I just took shots for no reason.”

Clips from this interview immediately went viral, as people called out Timothée for being dismissive towards very techincally impressive and demanding forms of art. Leading up to the Oscars, people  said he shouldn’t win the Best Actor award as aform of “karma”. Now that he’s lost it, a lot of people are pointing to the ballet comments as the reason Michael won, but it actually has nothing to do with it.

The Oscar loss has nothing to do with what Timothée said

The interview aired on the 21st February, but the viral clips and bulk of the conversation around what Timothée said happened from March 6th, with the most viral of the videos and commentary surrounding it being uploaded in the past week. Notably, the voting for the Oscars officially closed on the 5th March.

“Many of the approximately 10,000 voters wait until the last day or two to cast their ballots. Momentum gained — or lost — from the Producers Guild Awards and Actor Awards can be a significant factor,” said film critic Richard Roeper in his predictions article.

Michael B. Jordan receives thunderous applause as he wins the #Oscar for Best Actor. pic.twitter.com/jlHKTZjkdx

— Pop Base (@PopBase) March 16, 2026

So, it’s way more likely that Timothée lost this Oscar because of the run up to the Oscars. Michael B. Jordan won the Actor Award and the Critics Choice Award for Best Horror Actor – two important award ceremonies that weigh in on the likelihood of winning an Oscar. Also, Michael’s performance as Stack and Smoke in Sinners was praised by critics and audience members alike. He was able to portray two characters who felt entirely different, with a deeply intertwined story.

Focusing on the ballet comments as the reason why takes away from Michael B. Jordan’s skills ad an actor. The real reason why is because the Academy voters agreed that Michael’s performance was objectively better, so we should give him that recognition.

Featured image via Mark Hammond/PI via ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock and Chelsea Lauren/Shutterstock

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