Misty Copeland Responds To Timothee Chalamet's Ballet Comments

Misty Copeland may have retired from ballet, but she’s still a fierce advocate of the art form. So it should be no surprise that she didn’t appreciate Timothee Chalamet’s recent comments.

In an interview with Matthew McConaughey during a CNN & Variety Town Hall Event, the Oscar-nominated Marty Supreme star said that “no one cares about ballet and opera.” He said it in the context of hoping that going to see movies in the theater wouldn’t become a fringe pastime, as he believes those two artistic genres are.

Whether he had a point or not (and many of those pushing back have likely never been to see the ballet or an opera), Copeland was not pleased.

“First, I have to say that it’s very interesting that he invited me to be a part of promoting Marty Supreme with respect to my art form,” Copeland said while on a panel for the beauty line Aveeno.

Copeland says she was asked to participate in the marketing for the movie, which opened on Dec. 25. In an Instagram post last year, she wore a Marty Supreme jacket and provided a pic of her as a young dancer with the caption “Dream Big.”

Copeland also shared that there is “a reason that the opera and ballet have been around for over 400 years. “[Chalamet] 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 in that medium. So all of these mediums have a space and we shouldn’t be comparing them.”

Chalamet is up for Best Actor for his role as Marty Mauser, based on real-life table tennis champion Marty Reiser. It’s his third Best Actor nomination and his second in a row. He was viewed as the frontrunner until the controversy and Michael B. Jordan’s win at the Actor Awards.

Is it possible that this could hurt his chances? Well, although the ballet and opera are niche parts of the overall entertainment culture, as Copeland pointed out, they have been around for eons and the people who do support them are passionate.

As many of the fans of both are older, as it Oscars membership, it could have skewed voting in other directions as some of those Oscar voters may feel that Chalamet’s getting ahead of himself. The 30-year-old has achieved enormous success in the last decade, including starring in two of the three planned Dune films, which have brought in over a billion dollars at the box office.

We’ll find out as the Oscars air on Sunday, March 15, on YouTube TV, Hulu, and other streaming platforms. They start at 7 p.m.

See social media’s outrage over Chalamet’s comments below.