Hollywood star Timothée Chalamet recently chassé’d into the world of ballet and opera.
Recently in a Variety interview on Feb. 24, 2026, alongside actor Matthew McConaughey, when discussing his love for watching movies in theatre and his passion for keeping it alive, he continued by saying, “And I don’t want to be working in ballet or, you know things where it’s like, ‘hey come on keep this thing alive, even though it’s like no one cares.’”
This video has gone viral across social media, and we’ve watched as the opera and ballet world have begun to rally against Chalamet. The Boston Ballet company posted a video entitled “Boston Ballet’s Response to Timothée Chalamet,” and the Seattle Opera used the promo code “TIMOTHEE” for one weekend only.
Amongst this Chalamet scandal, ballerina Misty Copeland took part in the awe-strucking 2026 Oscars performance of the Oscar-nominated song, “I Lied to You,” from “Sinners.” The ironic thing is that Chalamet was sitting right in the front row, with a ballerina right in his face.
I have been a longtime fan of Chalamet, from his movies to his looks; he has always been one of my favorite celebrities. But I also studied Ballet from the age of five to 18, so hearing Chalamet insult the community of Ballet definitely offended me.
Though I am a frequent movie theater goer and have a love for movies, my ultimate favorite form of art will forever be Ballet. From my experience wearing dazzling tutus on stage, to watching The Pittsburgh Ballet’s live performances, I don’t think anything will ever give me the same emotional feeling ballet does, and I can confirm it is the hardest thing I’ve done.
This “delicate” and “feminine” art form takes an insane amount of both physical and emotional strength. And I used quotation marks, because the delicacy you see on stage is a result of tons of dead pointe shoes and tears shed after a rough rehearsal day. Which is why not just anybody can be a ballet dancer; they must have skin tough as nails. Basically, if Chalamet stepped out onto the stage, he would not have the strength and knowledge to make it delicate.
A big part of this Chalamet scandal is the fact that it’s an artist disrespecting other art. I think the special part about being an artist is being able to take inspiration from other art forms and the idea of collaborating with one another. During my time in ballet, we did a ballet dance inspired by “The Beatles,” and I was once in a dance inspired by an art piece.
As someone who took a ballet class every day for years, I can say I continuously looked at other forms of art for inspiration, whether that was choreographing or how I portrayed a role in a dance.
Ballerina Misty Copeland said just the right words to call out Timothée Chalamet, “But I think that it’s important that we acknowledge that yes, this is an art form that is not ‘popular’ and as part of pop culture as movies are, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have enduring relevance in culture,” she said.
What she is saying is that while ballet may not be considered mainstream, it has continued to make a huge impact throughout pop culture. There’s no doubt that you haven’t heard composer Tchaikovsky’s sugar plum fairy variation music during the Christmas time and seen ballerinas performing the variation across social media.
The art form has also influenced movies such as “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” and Disney’s “Sleeping Beauty.” This film heavily features music from the 1890s, Sleeping Beauty ballet.
And then we also have “The Black Swan” movie that dramatizes the life of a crazed Ballerina, which was inspired by the anime movie “Perfect Blue.” Rather than claiming nobody cares about ballet, Chalamet could instead use it as inspiration toward his acting, because art inspires art.
In my personal opinion, this shows that ballet has inspired more than lots of movies have and has continued to keep itself relevant for the past 500 years. We’re still celebrating the story of the “Nutcracker” and reinventing its story despite it being over 133 years old.
So, as we can see, ballet has managed to continuously influence pop culture time and time again. Whether it be through its music, style or stories, ballet has kept the art form fresh for the past 500 years and doesn’t plan on dying anytime soon. So next time you hear of a ballet performance coming to your area, don’t be scared to check it out, because it truly is an art form that can never be replicated.