Timothée Chalamet slammed for saying ‘no one cares’ about opera and ballet

Timothée Chalamet has found himself in one of those very internety celebrity messes where one throwaway line suddenly becomes the whole conversation.

The actor was chatting about cinema, attention spans and the pressure to keep movie theatres culturally relevant, but it was his comment about ballet and opera that really landed with a thud.

What may have been meant as a jokey aside has instead sparked a proper backlash from performers, arts institutions and social media, with many accusing him of being dismissive toward arts that have been around for centuries.

What did Timothée say?

The controversy that has people asking if Timothée’s feeling OK stems from a filmed conversation he had with Matthew McConaughey at a Variety and CNN town hall event.

During the discussion, the pair were talking about shrinking attention spans and how films now have to fight harder for audience focus.

Timothée said he admired people trying to “keep movie theatres alive,” but suggested that if audiences truly want something, they will show up for it, pointing to huge hits like Barbie and Oppenheimer.

Then came the line that set everything off.

Kylie Jenner‘s beau said he would not want to be working in “ballet, or opera” where it becomes a case of telling people to “keep this thing alive” even though “no one cares about this anymore.”

He immediately tried to soften it by adding “all respect” to ballet and opera people, before joking that he had “lost 14 cents in viewership.” That little disclaimer did not exactly save him.

He’s caused total outrage

Timothée Chalamet called out for saying “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 anymore. All respect to the ballet&opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership…”
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Fauxmoi

The backlash has been swift and fierce.

According to The Independent, opera singer Isabel Leonard called Chalamet “narrow-minded” and said taking “cheap shots at fellow artists” said more about his character than anything else.

Canadian mezzo-soprano Deepa Johnny described the comment as a “disappointing take,” while choreographer Martin Chaix pushed back by saying ballet is “very much alive.”

It did not stop there. The Royal Ballet and Opera also weighed in, saying ballet and opera have “never existed in isolation” and that their influence can be felt across theatre, film, music and fashion.

Online, the mood was even less forgiving. In the Fauxmoi Reddit thread that exploded after the clip circulated, commenters branded him everything from a “twerp” to a “bozo” and a “little ween”.

In a seriously awkward turn of events, the actual Metropolitan Opera House responded to Timothée’s comments with a whole TikTok on March 6.

It reads: “This one’s for you, Timothée Chalamet,” over video footage of all the “ballet and opera people” hard at work preparing for performances and events…

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