Shortly after Oscar-nominated Timothee Chalamet drew a lot of attention to himself with his blatant criticism of opera and ballet, veteran director Steven Spielberg appeared to ignore him at the Oscars, as noted by Etalk TV. Before this incident, Spielberg also subtly shaded Chalamet in a speech about consuming communal entertainment.
Steve Spielberg might have ignored Timothee Chalamet at Oscars
Widely considered one of Hollywood’s greatest directors of all time, Steven Spielberg appeared to ignore Oscar-nominated Timothee Chalamet during their recent appearance at this year’s ceremony. Chalamet was up for the coveted Best Actor award for his sports drama Marty Supreme, but lost out to Michael B. Jordan for his stunning dual role in Ryan Coogler’s Sinners.
Before that, Chalamet drew widespread criticism for his take on “Opera and Ballet.” During a Variety/CNN interview with his Interstellar co-star Matthew McConaughey, he had said, “I’m really right in the middle, Matthew. I admire people, and I’ve done it myself, who go on a talk show and say, ‘Hey, we’ve got to keep movie theaters alive, we’ve gotta 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 to be loud and proud about it.”
He further added, “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera where it’s like, ‘Hey! Keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore.'”
This comment drew massive criticism from other artists, including Steven Spielberg, who subtly referenced it during a SXSW keynote conversation about the importance of visiting movie theaters.
“At the end of a really good movie experience, we are all united with a whole bunch of feelings that we walk into the daylight with, or into the nighttime with. And there’s nothing like that,” Spielberg said (via Variety), “It happens in movies, and in concerts.” Subtly referencing Chalamet’s comments, Spielberg added, “And it happens in ballet and opera, by the way.”
Shortly after this, ETalk TV caught Spielberg looking away as Chalamet walked in during the Oscars. The two men did not even look each other in the eye. Soon, Chalamet’s publicist dragged him away. This has fans convinced that Spielberg intentionally did this in response to Chalamet’s controversial comment.
Other stars like Doja Cat have also spoken out about Timothee Chalamet’s comments on the art forms.
