Actor Timothée Chalamet is under fire for comments he made regarding opera and ballet, referring to the art forms as topics that “no one cares about” anymore.
The remarks were made by Chalamet in a town hall conversation hosted by CNN and Variety at the University of Texas with Matthew McConaughey. The actors discussed their performances and past collaboration on Christopher Nolan’s “Interstellar”.
Chalamet quickly acknowledged his respect for people in ballet and opera following this statement, but then said, “I just lost 14 cents in viewership,” which many online viewers found flippant and dismissive. Several social media users even noted that multiple members of Chalamet’s family were ballet dancers.
Sasha Zengin-Karaian, a sophomore dance performance and neuroscience double major, expressed that Chalamet’s statement sparked many conversations within the dance community at Butler.
“One of the big arguments I’ve seen is that ballet, opera and the fine arts are not elitist, but they’re not accessible art forms in the same way film and TV can be,” Zengin-Karaian said. “I think it just shows, on [Chalamet’s] part, a lot of ignorance about the arts and accessibility of them.
Chalamet has deep familial ties to the New York ballet scene, as his mother, grandmother and sister trained with the New York City Ballet.
Despite this, Zengin-Karaian conceded that Chalamet’s opinions may possess some merit.
“Although he may not have necessarily said it in the best terms, he did make a good point in the sense that — especially in the U.S. — the arts … are extremely underfunded,” Zengin-Karaian said. “There are a lot of issues within the dance world in terms of accessibility; companies [struggle] to afford studio space and also pay their dancers a livable wage.
Maya Chung, a sophomore dance performance and history double major, expanded on this idea of accessibility.
“There needs to be some changes made, and [ballet] will start to die if we don’t let it evolve from its very problematic origins,” Chung said. “Ballet has historically excluded a lot of people, and it still really does. I think to let it thrive, we need to make the fundamental changes to allow everyone to be able to afford it, take lessons [and] engage in the community.
The internet has seen a wide array of responses to the controversy, fluctuating between earnest renunciations of his statement to light-hearted digs at the actor by other celebrities on SNL and at the 2026 Academy Awards.
Chalamet’s newest film, “Marty Supreme”, was nominated for nine Academy Awards, of which it won none. This included Chalamet’s third individual Oscar nomination. He was up for the title of Best Actor, but it was claimed by Michael B. Jordan for his performance in “Sinners”.
Viewers of the awards ceremony took to social media to question whether Chalamet’s remark cost him the award, with many even celebrating the actor’s loss. However, it is unlikely that his sentiment had any effect on the voting process, as the period for voting came to a close before his statements went viral.
Ashlyn Boomer, a sophomore vocal performance and music education double major with an opera emphasis, discussed the importance of this backlash and how instances like these have led to increased visibility for the arts.
“I think the backlash is needed,” Boomer said. “[The Seattle Opera] had a 14% off code for the show ‘Carmen’ if you used [code] ‘Chalamet’ to promote these performances, which I think is absolutely amazing … because opera and ballet are so important. I love what is coming [out] about it because there are more people interested in going to these shows, and that’s what we need to keep the industry alive.”
Chalamet has not offered any further commentary on the subject.