Misty Copeland, Doja Cat and More Speak Out After Timothée Chalamet’s Opera and Ballet Comment

Actors often spend months promoting movies, answering questions, and joking around on stage. Most of the time, those moments come and go without much fuss. But every now and then, a quick comment turns into a much bigger conversation.

That is what happened when Timothée Chalamet shared his thoughts during a public discussion at the University of Texas at Austin. What sounded like an offhand joke about ballet and opera quickly sparked backlash across the arts world, with dancers, singers, and celebrities speaking up.

The debate picked up even more steam when the panel on The View discussed the moment on March 9. Co-host Sara Haines pointed out an interesting detail. Chalamet actually has deep family ties to ballet. His grandmother, mother and sister all danced with the New York City Ballet.

"When you crap on somebody else's art form, it doesn't feel good, it doesn't feel good to see," Whoopi Goldberg added.

The moment happened during a February 2026 town hall hosted by Variety and CNN. Chalamet joined Matthew McConaughey for the conversation, which covered everything from movies to the future of entertainment.

At first, the actor talked about the challenges movie theaters face today.

"I admire people, and I've done it myself, who go on a talk show and go, 'Hey, we gotta keep movie theaters alive. You know, we gotta 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."

Later in the discussion, the conversation shifted toward other art forms. That is when Chalamet made the remark that would soon spread across social media.

"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," he said, drawing laughter from both McConaughey and the crowd.

Almost immediately, Chalamet tried to soften the moment.

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

The response online was quick and loud. Ballet dancers, opera singers, and arts organizations all jumped into the conversation.

The Metropolitan Opera posted a TikTok celebrating its backstage crew with the caption, “This one's for you, @tchalamet.”

The Seattle Opera also joined in, taking a more playful approach. On Instagram, the company offered 14% off select seats for Carmen using the code “TIMOTHEE,” joking in the caption, “Timmy, you're welcome to use it too.”

One of the loudest celebrity reactions came from Doja Cat. In a TikTok that later went viral, she responded directly to Chalamet’s remarks.

In the since-deleted video, Doja Cat, whose real name is Amala Dlamini, said, “Hey, by the way, opera is 400 years old, ballet is 500 years old. Somebody named Tim-oh-tay Cha-lam-et had the nerve — big guy, by the way — had the nerve to say, on-camera, that nobody cares about it.”

She also defended the audience culture around the art forms.

“People give a f---. You show up in a nice outfit. You sit the f--- down and shut the f--- up,” she said. “That’s the usual etiquette around those things. Maybe learn something from that.”

But the following day, the rapper returned to TikTok to reflect on the moment and walk back her comments, saying they were made “in the heat of the moment.”

“I am going to come out and say that I know nothing about opera. I know nothing about ballet,” Doja Cat clarified. “I’ve never been to a ballet. I’ve never seen an opera. And I took it upon myself yesterday to kind of give it to the man because there is a culture based around outrage and things like that and people want to feel like they’re part of something. It’s a need to connect, whether good or bad.”

After watching more videos about the situation, she admitted she realized she was not the right person to speak on it.

“What I was doing yesterday was virtue signaling because I wanted to connect and I knew that Timothée’s goof up was something that I could leverage in order for people to connect with me and f--- with me,” Doja Cat admitted. “And it’s easy. It’s a modern way to garner clicks, likes, approval and all kinds of things like that from people. And so I did that yesterday, and I didn’t really think about why I was doing it.”

She added that she was not proud of the original video and said she had tried to appear sincere.

“That was the perfect material for me to seem sincere. But the truth is, I don’t know anything about opera. I don’t know anything about ballet, and I’ve never been to either shows. And I think I just wanted a hug. I think that’s all that I wanted. I wanted a hug. I wanted to feel like I was part of something bigger than myself. I wanted to be pat on the back the way everybody else is patting each other on the back in the comments sections. And I wanted to look like a hero, and that’s what happened. And when I got it, I didn’t like it so much.”

Doja Cat ended the video with a blunt reflection on the moment.

“It just kind of furthers the fact that sometimes I think s--- and then I’m like, never mind. So never mind.”

The controversy even reached Chalamet’s former high school, Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in New York, which is known for its performing arts programs.

Principal Deepak Marwah shared a thoughtful response on Instagram.

“We are so incredibly proud of our own Timothée Chalamet. We cheer for him loudly and with great love. And it is because of that love that I feel compelled to respond to his recent comments about opera and ballet," wrote Deepak Marwah. "At LaGuardia, we do not rank art forms. Timothée, you come from this world. We know your heart, and we know you know better. To every student here studying opera, ballet, or any art the world may tell them 'no one cares about' — we see you. Keep going."

Professional dancers also spoke up, including New York City Ballet principal dancer Tiler Peck.

“I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea that ‘no one cares about ballet or opera anymore,’” Peck, wrote over a video montage of her onstage in various ballet productions and enthusiastic reactions from audiences — including 2014 Kennedy Center Honors recipients Tom Hanks and Patricia McBride.

“For those of us who live inside these art forms, that couldn’t feel further from the truth," the ballerina continued. "Every day I walk into a studio where dancers are pushing their bodies past exhaustion in pursuit of something beautiful. I rehearse alongside musicians, singers, stage crews, costume designers, and choreographers who dedicate their lives to telling stories."

“These art forms have existed for hundreds of years because generation after generation continues to find meaning in them," the ballerina continued. "They evolve, they change, and they continue to move people in ways that are hard to put into words."

“If you’ve ever sat in a theater and felt your heart race as the music swells or watched a dancer fly across the stage and felt something shift inside you—then you know people still care,” concluded Peck. “I’m grateful every day to be part of this art form.”

Ballet icon Misty Copeland also addressed the issue while appearing at a panel during Aveeno and TOGETHXR's "The Strength Issue" launch on Sunday, March 8.

"There's a reason that the opera and ballet have been around for over 400 years."

Opera singer Isabelle Leonard also shared her thoughts online, saying she felt "shocked that someone so seemingly successful can be so ineloquent and narrow-minded in his views about art while considering himself [an] artist as I would only imagine one would as an actor."

Despite the online debate, the controversy may not have much impact on Chalamet’s awards season.

The actor is currently campaigning for Marty Supreme, which earned him nominations for Best Actor and Best Picture as a producer. He has already picked up a Critics' Choice Award and a Golden Globe for the role.

Academy Awards voting officially closed on March 5. Although the town hall took place in February 2026, the backlash only gained widespread attention around the time ballots were due. By then, many voters had likely already submitted their picks.

Even so, the moment has sparked a wider conversation about how people talk about art and why centuries-old traditions like ballet and opera still matter to so many people today.