In regards to the 2026 Oscars the only thing Timothée Chalamet’s comment about Opera and Ballet changed was his social performance perception. He would’ve lost regardless.
BY: CARRINGTON C. DAVIS
Staff Writer
In the month of March the 98th Oscars took place. This resulted in Sinners winning best original score, best cinematography, best original play, and best actor. The best actor, Michel B. Jordan, was in running against Timothée Chalamet for Marty Supreme, Leonardo DiCaprio for One Battle after Another, Ethan Hawke for Blue Moon, and Wagner Moura for The Secret Agent. The most notably infamous one being Timothée Chalamet.
His infamous nature comes from his recent claims made about ballet and opera in promotion of his Marty Supreme film.
Claims that other celebrities like Doja Cat,Whoopi Goldburg, and Jamie Lee Curtis have spoken against.“Opera and ballet are art forms that have crossed centuries and continue to speak to the human heart, because they answer a deep need for beauty, truth, and emotion,” this was taken from Forbes, and made by Andrea Bocelli, an Opera legend.“They are not arts of the past, but living languages that can still move us, make us reflect, and bring different generations together.”
“No one cares” was the statement made during a CNN and Variety town hall. “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,” said Chalamet. This is the statement made that caused his public fall from best actor. I say public fall and not voted fall because to me that was set in stone. And while the Oscars final voting runs from February 26 till March 5th, and the opinion was shared in February, I don’t feel that the recent timing of this statement would’ve changed the votes that fast. Especially given that the voting is supposed to be based on performance, not ever changing opinions. A performance that I feel Michael B. Jordan did leagues better in comparison to his nominee counterparts.
In Sinners Michael B. Jordan took on the role of 3 distinct characters. Smoke, Stack, and vampire Stack. These characters are 3 different entities, with 3 different motivations, and 3 separate endings. Something that none of the other nominees took on for their roles. This coupled with the fact that Michael and the movie’s performance did so well is why he won.Not because someone slipped up before the voting was over but because there was real beauty in Michel’s performance. Hell the beauty of finding a shared community in performance is why Sinners as a whole won. And even though it was probably a clever jab against Timothée’s statement, the performance of I lied to you during the Oscars featured retired ballet performer Misty Copeland. Someone who’s done press and marketing for Marty Supreme and a person who’s lived a full life in the carrier that Chalemet said was dying. If anything we as watchers should thank him for this statement cause if not made we shouldn’t get to see the beauty of opera/ballet performance celebrated as much as it is right now. That one field of art/entertainment has no place in knocking down another. And if knocked down it is up to the community as a whole to uplift it back up.
