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Timothée Chalamet is finding out that people very much care about opera and ballet after his recent comments about both. The “Marty Supreme” star has faced a backlash after declaring that ballet and opera are arts that “no one cares about” during an interview in late February.
Chalamet’s remarks have triggered responses that he needs a night out at the opera to see what he’s missing and much less friendly replies. Here’s what to know about the controversy, which bloomed just over a week before the 2026 Academy Awards, where Chalamet is a prime contender for best actor for “Marty Supreme.” What Did Timothée Chalamet Say About Opera and Ballet? Chalamet, 30, was speaking with fellow actor Matthew McConaughey on Feb. 21 at the CNN & Variety Town Hall Event when the conversation turned toward making films that will get more people to come out and see them in theaters. “I’m really right in the middle, Matthew,” he said. “Because I admire people, and I’ve done it myself, go on a talk show and go, ‘Hey, we got to keep movie theaters alive. You know, we got to keep this genre alive.’ 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 and be loud and proud about it.” “And I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive,’” he continued. “Even though it’s like, no one cares about this anymore. All respect to the ballet and opera people out there.” Chalamet then appeared to realize how those comments might land in the opera and ballet worlds and joked, “I just lost 14 cents in viewership.” How Did the Opera and Ballet Communities React? A host of opera houses responded to Chalamet’s comments with everything from invites for the actor to come there to watch a performance to using his name as a promo code for a discount. This one’s for you, @tchalamet… 👀” New York City’s Metropolitan Opera captioned an Instagram video of all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into a show. The Royal Ballet Opera wrote on Instagram that “thousands” of people gather every night for ballet and opera and told Chalamet that if he’d “like to reconsider, our doors are open.” The Seattle Opera wrote on Instagram that it was offering 14% off select seats to its performance of “Carmen” by using the promo code “TIMOTHEE.” “Timmy, you’re welcome to use it too 💃 See you at the opera!” the organization wrote. “@tchalamet, this is your official invitation. Let’s see if we can change your mind 👀” the English National Opera wrote on Instagram. Other responses weren’t so benign. “Honestly, I’m shocked that someone so seemingly successful can be so ineloquent and narrow minded in his views about art while considering himself as artist as I would only imagine one would as an actor,” Grammy-winning opera singer Isabel Leonard commented on a Variety Instagram video of Chalamet’s remarks. “To take cheap shots at fellow artists says more in this interview than anything else he could say,” she continued. “Shows a lot about his character. You don’t have to like all art but only a weak person/artist feels the need to diminish in fact the VERY arts that would inspire those who are interested in slowing down, to do exactly that.” New York City Ballet principal dancer Megan Fairchild also weighed in with an Instagram video. “It’s not even the idea that he dissed ballet and opera that bothers me,” she said. “It’s the suggestion that he had the talent and aptitude to pursue these Olympic-level artistic fields in the first place. Timmy, I didn’t realize you were a world-class dancer or opera singer who simply chose not pursue it because acting’s more popular!” A reference to the controversy also made its way into the “Weekend Update” segment on “Saturday Night Live” on March 7. “Timothée Chalamet is being criticized by major opera and ballet organizations after he said that no one cares about those art forms,” host Colin Jost said. “Chalamet made the comment on a press tour for his movie about ping-pong.”
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