Timothée Chalamet is acutely aware of the backlash that has surrounded his past comments about opera and ballet. After the star of 'Marty Supreme' came under fire for saying "no one cares" about opera and ballet during his Variety and CNN town hall with Matthew McConaughey, Conan O'Brien, the host of Oscars 2026, poked fun at the controversy while hosting the March 15 ceremony. (Click here to see all the celebrities on the red carpet.)
"Security is extremely tight tonight," he jokingly told the crowd, including Timothée and his girlfriend Kylie Jenner, gathered inside the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. "I'm told there are concerns about attacks from both the opera and ballet communities."
But Timothée, who was nominated in the Best Actor category for his performance in the sports drama, took it all in stride. While seated in the front row, he giggled as Conan continued with his opening monologue.
Indeed, the 30-year-old ruffled some feathers - and tutus - during the Feb. 24 town hall, where he compared the relevance of modern film to long-lasting art forms.
"I admire people - and I've done it myself - who go on a talk show and say, 'Hey, we've got to keep movie theaters alive, we've gotta keep this genre alive,'" Timothée explained. "And another part of me feels like if people want to see it - like Barbie, like Oppenheimer - they're gonna go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it."
"I don't want to be working in ballet or opera, or things where it's like, 'Keep this thing alive even though no one cares about this anymore,'" he continued. "All respect to the ballet and opera people out there."
After realizing his comments might have been offensive, Timothée joked, "I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason."
Both opera houses and ballet theaters responded to the Wonka actor's commentary, as well as performers like ballerina Misty Copeland, who appeared in a promotional video for Marty Supreme last November.
"It's very interesting that he invited me to be a part of promoting Marty Supreme with respect to my art form," Misty, who was the first black woman to be principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre, said during a March 10 panel for Aveeno in New York City. "I think it's important that we acknowledge that, yes, this is an art form that's not 'popular' and a part of pop culture as movies are. But that doesn't mean it doesn't have enduring relevance in culture."
"He wouldn't be an actor and have the opportunities he has as a movie star if it weren't for opera and ballet and their relevance," she added. "All of these mediums have a space and we shouldn't be comparing them."
Some of Timothée's fellow film actors also spoke up about the issue, including Jamie Lee Curtis.
"His comments are silly, and I'm sorry that they're going to be a bit of his legacy now," the Freaky Friday star told the Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on March 12. "I'm sure he regrets the comment because you can't throw those art forms under a bus. You can't do it. They're too important."
"Does that mean there's not a reduction in audiences for those art forms? I'm sure there is," she continued. "Does that mean it's going to be the destruction of those art forms? No."
