Timothée Chalamet Faces Backlash From Ballet and Opera Communities

Mar 7, 2026 10:38am PT Timothée Chalamet Faces Backlash From Ballet and Opera Communities After Viral ‘No One Cares’ Comment: ‘We’d Love To Change Your Mind’ By Jack Dunn Plus Icon Jack Dunn Latest Box Office: ‘Hoppers’ Bites Down on $13.2 Million; ‘The Bride!’ Stumbles With $3 Million 2 hours ago Jon Stewart Slams Trump for Keeping Press in the Dark About Iran War: ‘Our Bombs Are Now Smarter Than Our President’ 5 days ago ‘Palm Royale’ Canceled at Apple TV After Two Seasons 5 days ago See All Variety/CNN The opera and ballet communities are firing back at Timothée Chalamet after the “Marty Supreme” star said during “A CNN & Variety Town Hall Event” that he didn’t want theatrical movie going to end up like the “ballet or opera,” where artists want to “keep this thing alive” even though “no one cares” about it anymore. London’s Royal Ballet and Opera took to Instagram on Friday to share footage of its craftspeople and performers in an apparent response to Chalamet. The caption of the post read, “Every night at the Royal Opera House, thousands of people gather for ballet and opera. For the music. For the storytelling. For the sheer magic of live performance. If you’d like to reconsider, [Timothée Chalamet], our doors are open.” Related Stories 'Pride and Prejudice' Teaser: First Footage of Emma Corrin as Elizabeth Bennet and Jack Lowden as Mr. Darcy in Netflix Series 'Running Point' Sets Season 2 Release Date, Kate Hudson Returns as Basketball Franchise Boss in First Look Photos The English National Opera also invited Chalamet to a performance via Instagram on Friday. The company posted a photo of Chalamet captioned with his viral quote, and wrote, “We’d love to change your mind- free tickets on us to help you fall back in love with opera anytime xoxo.” Popular on Variety Colombian ballet dancer Fernando Montaño took a more pointed approach, sharing a formal letter to Instagram explaining his thoughts on Chalamet’s comment. In it, he wrote, “Perhaps one of the greatest mistakes human beings can make is to compare themselves with others, or to compare one form of expression with another. Comparison rarely allows true understanding; instead, it limits growth and prevents people from developing their own talents and perspectives.” London-based dancer Anna Yliaho also had a personal message for Chalamet. She wrote on Instagram that “only an insecure artist tears down another discipline to elevate their own.” In a more tongue-in-cheek response, The Seattle Opera is offering 14% off tickets for its production of “Carmen” if you use the promo code “Timothée.” In his full quote, Chalamet told Matthew McConaughey that he sees both sides of the argument about the dwindling popularity of movie theaters. He said the success of a “serious movie” like “Frankenstein” shows that audiences still crave nuanced storytelling, but at the same time, he understands that “some people want to be entertained and quickly.” “I’m really right in the middle, Matthew,” Chalamet said. “Cause I admire people, and I’ve done it myself, [who] go on a talk show and go, ‘Hey, we gotta keep movie theaters alive. You know, we gotta keep this genre alive.’ And another part of me feels like, if people wanna see it, like ‘Barbie,’ like ‘Oppenheimer,’ they’re gonna 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.’ Even though it’s like, no one cares about this anymore. All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership.” Jump to Comments CBS Chief Research and Analytics Officer Radha Subramanyam Dies at 55 AFC Championship 2026: How to Watch the New England Patriots vs. Denver Broncos Live Online Without Cable for Free Country Singer Riley Green Joins ‘Yellowstone’ Spinoff ‘Marshals’ (EXCLUSIVE) ‘Matlock,’ ‘NCIS’ ‘Tracker,’ ‘Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage,’ Among 10 Shows Renewed at CBS Grammys Hit 14.4 Million Viewers, Down 6% From Last Year ‘The Madison’ Teaser: Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell Search for Peace in Montana in Taylor Sheridan’s Latest ‘Yellowstone’ Offshoot JavaScript is required to load the comments. Loading comments...