Timothée Chalamet, nominated for an Oscar for his role in Marty Supreme, is facing strong criticism after claiming that “no one cares” about ballet and opera nowadays.
It all started when the 29-year-old actor took part in the CNN & Variety Town Hall Event alongside veteran Matthew McConaughey at the end of February. On that occasion, the two were discussing the film industry.
Citing Frankenstein, released on Netflix, as a “serious movie” that can succeed, Chalamet expressed his belief that audiences “want to be entertained quickly.”
“I’m right in the middle, Matthew. Because I admire the people — and I’ve done this myself — [who] go on a talk show and say: ‘Hey, we have to keep theaters alive.’ You know: ‘We have to keep this genre alive,’” he said.
“And another part of me feels that if people want to see it, like Barbie or Oppenheimer, they’ll go see it and go out of their way for it and be loud and proud about it.”
“And I don’t want to work in ballet or opera, or things where it’s like: ‘Hey, keep this thing alive.’ Even if it’s like, no one cares about it anymore. With all respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in audience,” Chalamet stated.
Following the controversial remark, ballet and opera companies around the world pushed back against the actor’s comments, including the English National Opera, which invited Chalamet to attend a performance in the future.
“We’d love to change your mind — free tickets on us to help you fall in love with opera again anytime,” the English National Opera wrote in a post shared on its Instagram profile.
London’s Royal Ballet and Opera also used Instagram to address Chalamet’s comments, posting a video montage of its performances with the text: “We care.”
“Every night at the Royal Opera House, thousands of people gather for ballet and opera. For the music. For the storytelling. For the pure magic of live performance. If you’d like to reconsider, our doors are open,” they wrote in the caption.
Meanwhile, the Seattle Opera took a different approach to make its point, offering a promotional deal with 14% off tickets to its production of Carmen. Interested buyers can use the discount code “Timothee” when completing their order.
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Photo and video: Creative Commons / X @SethAbramovitch. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
Ok I did not hear this. This sucks pic.twitter.com/O2ZW26zHrb
— Seth Abramovitch (@SethAbramovitch) March 5, 2026
