On March 8, recently retired ballerina Misty Copeland, the first black female principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre, spoke at a panel for Aveeno and TOGETHXR’s The Strength Issue in New York and addressed Timothée Chalamet’s controversial remark that “no one cares” about ballet or opera. Copeland said:
“I think that it’s important that we acknowledge that, yes, this is an art form that is not as popular and a part of pop culture as movies are, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have enduring relevance in culture. And I think it’s often mistaken when something is popular that it’s meaningful or more impactful. There’s a reason that the opera and ballet have been around for over 400 years. I think that when you have access and opportunity to be a part of something, it can change your life.
“That’s the work that I’ve been doing…my whole career is to bring more people into it so that people do understand the importance and the relevance of it in our communities and our culture, and you see it reflected everywhere. I mean, 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 in that medium. All of these mediums have a space and we shouldn’t be comparing them.”
Misty and Lil Timmy Tim will both be at the Oscars this weekend. Misty is performing as part of Sinners’ “I Lied to You” best song nominee performance.
Misty also said that she found it “interesting” that Chalamet invited her to promote his movie Marty Supreme a few months ago. She was asked to wear a Marty Supreme jacket which was accompanied by a photo of her as a baby ballerina with the caption “dream big.” She was one of a handful of celebrities at the top of their fields asked to promote the movie this way, alongside Patti LuPone, Michael Phelps, and Tom Brady.
Nathan Lane was more direct and less tactful during his appearance on The View today, saying: “What a schmuck! One doesn’t want to give this more attention than it deserves and yet it was kind of kaleidoscopic in its stupidity and insensitivity and yet strangely telling about where we are in this country. First of all, one should remember people will be going to see Swan Lake and La Traviata long after someone at a dinner party says, ‘Who was Timothée Chalamet?’ It’s the show business circle of life. The bigger question is: why was there a town hall meeting with Matthew McConaughey and Timothée Chalamet? Who deemed this meeting of the minds necessary? Why isn’t there a town hall meeting with Democrats discussing how to get this lunatic out of the White House?”
Lane added: “Then I realized, ‘Oh, he’s still promoting that endless ping-pong movie.’ And, you know, I’ve got news for Timmy — if you think nobody cares about opera and ballet, I can’t tell you how much we don’t care about ping-pong. But in his defense, he was doing it with Matthew McConaughey, so I’m thinking some weed was smoked and this may just be a tragic case of terribly unfunny people trying to be funny, which always ends in disaster.”
