Timothée Chalamet Called “Vapid” & “Shallow” After Recent Opera Comments

Marty Supreme star Timothée Chalamet is gunning for a Best Actor Oscar for his role in the Josh Safdie movie, making a variety of appearances on his campaign trail. Speaking with Matthew McConaughey at the University of Texas at Austin back in February, the actor quipped how “no one cared” about art forms like ballet or opera, and he has no interest in taking part in such productions. Understandably, a number of defenders of the arts have put Chalamet at the center of controversy, not just among fans, but also with his peers.

In the TV realm, the hosts of The View found an opportunity to weigh in on Chalamet’s remarks, with Whoopi Goldberg expressing that the comments were disrespectful, while also calling out his feigned remorse, claiming his comments would lose him “14 cents.” After The View host Sunny Hostin expressed, per Entertainment Weekly, “Ballet is hard … I’m offended and disappointed in what he said. I didn’t realize he was that vapid and that shallow.” Goldberg then chimed in:

“You come from a dance family, so when you crap on somebody else’s art form, it doesn’t feel good. You probably didn’t realize until you said, ‘Oh, I’m in trouble,’ but then you compounded it and said, ’14 cents.’ No, when people get mad, it’ll be a lot more than 14 cents, so be careful. I’m just saying. Be careful, boy.”

She added, “He is a boy to me … No disrespect. Really, don’t apologize when you’ve insulted. It doesn’t sound right. You can’t say, ‘Oh, this is dumb, no disrespect.’ That’s absolute disrespect.”

Goldberg and Hostin weren’t the only figures with a major platform to weigh in on the situation, as comedian Patton Oswalt found a chance to call out Chalamet’s remarks.

While appearing at the Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Awards, Oswalt joked, per The Hollywood Reporter, “Thank God we’re here to celebrate achievement in sound editing and not watching ballet or the opera … Thank God we are actually watching something that deserves to be alive.”

In regard to the timing of the backlash and how it could impact the actor’s Oscar chances, Oswalt clarified, “He said it after they were done voting. He’s fine. He’s safe.”

When an actor seemingly slams an entire art form, there’s undeniably going to be a consequence, much like when Martin Scorsese expressed the opinion that he wasn’t interested in superhero movies, igniting a rift throughout the entire fandom and among the cast and crew of such movies. However, the context does help offer some insight into what caused the comments.

During the conversation with his former Interstellar costar, Chalamet shared how he “admired” people who make talk show appearances and encourage audiences to go see movies in theaters, and how some movies can make it challenging to feel worthy of the cinematic experience. He went on to note that some movies inherently draw people in and it can be difficult to star in experiences that feel like people need to be persuaded to enjoy:

“…another part of me feels like, if people wanna see it, like Barbie, like Oppenheimer, they’re gonna go see it and go outta their way to be loud and proud about it. And I don’t wanna be working in ballet or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive. Even though it’s like, no one cares about this anymore. All respect to the ballet and opera people out there … I just took shots for no reason.”

It’s understandably a sweeping generalization to say no one cares about opera or ballet, though these comments do highlight the generational divide between art forms. At 30 years old, Chalamet’s flippant dismissal of centuries-old art forms likely reflects his detachment from their importance, but to say it as such a popular figure and with such a large following, it’s easy to see how the actor has caught so much flak.

Fans will see if the actor finally scores his Oscar when the ceremony is held on Sunday, March 15.