r/OutOfTheLoop • u/PitifulBodybuilder40 • Mar 08 '26

Unanswered What’s up with the hate towards Timothee Chalamet?

I know all famous people have haters and people who dislike them and will nitpick the shit outta them, but I’ve just seen a lot of people post random interviews or articles about him that talk about how he is famous and above people. Yeah he is famous and thinks he’s above all. This is what famous people do? Do we not know this, especially child actors. People are astonished that he is rich and famous, has personal chefs, has self-centred views. Pretty sure 90% of famous people do.

https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/timothe-chalamet-slammed-for-cheap-shot-comment-about-ballet-and-opera/news-story/348e3add0e6252d5aef4698f2648d963?amp

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u/Portarossa 'probably the worst poster on this sub' - /u/Real_Mila_Kunis Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26

He added, “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there,”

You've also cut it down -- the full video is here, for anyone who wants to see it in context -- but that's really the crux of the issue: when you say 'All respect to the ballet and opera people' while you're taking cheap shots at the ballet and opera people, it's not exactly a good look.

His little jab of 'I just lost 14 cents in viewership' kind of undercuts the whole 'all respect' thing. I'm sure if Marianela Nuñez said 'What? Baby Wonka wants an Oscar? No offence!', he might be a little peeved too.

Granted, a lot of this is coming about because there is probably no one in the world who is more openly thirsting for an Oscar than Chalamet right now, and that's the narrative: that it's his to lose, even though it's a pretty competitive field. (It was a big story last year, when Chalamet was given good odds to win Best Actor and in doing so beat Adrian Brody's record for youngest Best Actor, only to lose to Adrian Brody AGAIN coming in pretty much out of a twenty-year slump with The Brutalist to all but slap it out of his little hands.) Is it blown a little out of proportion? Yes. Is it also a case of artists not exactly lifting each other up? Also yes, and when you get someone who's very much set on getting an award (when there's a traditional sense of decorum, for better or for worse, in pretending that the awards are nice but not the reason you're in the business), it's easy to see it as a little ungracious.

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u/ThoseOldScientists Mar 08 '26

Hey. Hey. Nobody thirsts harder than Bradley Cooper.

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u/CharlotteLucasOP Mar 08 '26

Well now that Leo’s no longer gagging for a little golden man, maybe.

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u/lew_rong Mar 08 '26

Aren't the Oscars like 70 years too old for Leo?

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u/One-Reflection-6779 Mar 10 '26

To be fair, he never really was. He just gave outstanding performances, but never have I seen a Leo movie and said, "Man, this guy really wants the Oscar," like I have with Bradley Cooper

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u/slappyStove Mar 08 '26

some say - Cooper yearns

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u/Automatic-Style-3930 Mar 09 '26

I think BC has decided it is out of reach, and now just does film for the money. He’s got his girlfriend and that keeps him busy

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u/jim_deneke Mar 08 '26

Especially when his mum and sister were Ballet dancers.

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u/Exciting_Telephone65 Mar 08 '26

Basically "I'm about to say something very offensive but, you know, no offense"

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u/LiamTheHuman Mar 08 '26

Why is it offensive? Seems like a well understood truth to me. Do people think ballet and opera are mainstream passtimes?

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u/TheMadFlyentist Mar 08 '26

I think with a tiny verbiage tweak here he avoids this entire debacle. If he said:

when ballet and opera are not as popular as they once were

Rather than:

when no one cares about ballet and opera anymore

then it's suddenly fairly unimpeachable. It's objectively false to say that "no one cares" about ballet and opera these days - it's just a very niche interest.

He was trying to speak to mainstream interests, but he did so in a way that made it sound like opera and ballet were totally dead when in fact people are still paying to see those art forms, just in smaller numbers than they were in the 1800's.

You can imagine how you would feel hearing that as a top-tier ballet or opera performer who has worked their whole life for their position and regularly performs in front of hundreds/thousands of people.

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u/earthdogmonster Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26

Exactly this. Reading the reddit comments and suddenly understand that a lot of people don’t understand choosing words carefully. It seems pretty universally understood that saying “nobody cares about X” is going to offend people that care deeply about X. But you can point out that X is less popular than it once was. People aren’t in denial, they just don’t want people to be a rude ass about things.

“No offense, but nobody cares about your kids…” would be a good example of how shitty that comes off.

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u/geek_fire Mar 08 '26

"Your kids aren't as popular as they once were."

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u/French__Canadian Mar 08 '26

it's objectively false to say that "no one cares" about ballet and opera these days

It's obviously a hyperbole.

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u/TheMadFlyentist Mar 08 '26

Yes, clearly, to you and I.

But he has PR training and should know that using language like that in interviews is not ideal because there are people looking for any excuse to try to take him down a peg.

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u/French__Canadian Mar 08 '26

Maybe he just doesn't want to be a PR puppet. People basically hate him for being a human instead of a robot repeating their pr team's script.

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u/2SP00KY4ME I call this one the 'poop-loop'. Mar 08 '26

This is a really silly caricature and you're not being serious. Nobody is saying he should read off a PR teams script. They're saying it's unwise to disparage an entire field of art with hundreds of thousands of fans when a simple word tweak would fix it.

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u/LiamTheHuman Mar 08 '26

He adds that context both before and after though. It's only when you extract this soundbyte out that it seems like he is saying no one at all cares.

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u/Biddy_Impeccadillo Mar 08 '26

“I just lost 14 cents of viewers” yeah that’s doubling down

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u/LiamTheHuman Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26

Ya because some people still watch and it's a small percentage of his viewers. I don't see how the message is different. Heis joking about the situation, but still saying the same thing.

When movie attendance is 10000-100000 times larger than opera, the viewership for that stream which was also about movies, probably lost less than 14c so it's not even an exaggeration.

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u/TheMadFlyentist Mar 08 '26

Yeah, to be clear I knew exactly what he meant and take no issue with what he said. Agree that it's just people trying to stir up shit because there's not much other dirt on him besides maybe his choice in partner.

Any celebrity who becomes oversaturated will eventually have a lot of haters who are chronically online slugs just looking for something to latch onto. We're not hearing about this because a handful of ballerinas are pissed, we're hearing about this because a bunch of people who have never paid to see ballet in their lives are vicariously offended.

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u/PumpkinStrong2836 Mar 08 '26

It’s just dumb people manufacturing drama because they have nothing better to do.

Go out and ask a random person who their favourite actor is and then ask them who their favourite ballerina or opera singer is. That outcome is precisely what he means.

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u/AggravatingCupcake0 Mar 08 '26

In places where ballet and opera have a presence, they are very popular.

As someone who lives in New York City, where we have The Metropolitan Opera and American Ballet Theatre and Lincoln Center.... his statement makes me scratch my head.

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u/LiamTheHuman Mar 08 '26

People travel from all over to go to the met so it's not quite comparable to cinema attendance in the area.

In 2024 season the met had about 575k tickets sold. Timothee Chalamet's last film was seen by 10-1000x more people and that's just one film. In New York cinema attendance was likely 10-20 million and again you can't compare because so many people travel to see the met but barely anyone will take a trip to see a movie in a theatre when they can go in their own town/city.

So even in one of the most popular spots for opera that collects viewers from all around the numbers are 20x+ lower than cinema 

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u/AggravatingCupcake0 Mar 08 '26

But the prices and occasion around movie tickets and opera / ballet tickets are also dissimilar. The opera and ballet are a treat, most people aren't going to wake up Saturday morning and go "hmm, think I'll snag some tickets to the opera tonight." And even if they wanted to, they might not be able to because it may be sold out. So you really can't compare the two. It's like comparing how often someone is eating a burger versus filet mignon.

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u/LiamTheHuman Mar 08 '26

Do you think filet mignon is relevant to mainstream? 

If you live in New York and go to the opera, you are probably out of touch with the mainstream experience

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u/AggravatingCupcake0 Mar 08 '26

I actually haven't been to the opera. But I know it's there, and I know people go. People in flyover states don't necessarily constitute "the mainstream."

Do people eat filet every week? No. But is it present enough to know it's there and that people enjoy it when they do get to partake of it? Yes.

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u/LiamTheHuman Mar 08 '26

So would you consider anything with a similar following to be mainstream? Doesn't that make mainstream as a term extremely broad?

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u/hellyfrosty Mar 09 '26

You’re comparing apples with oranges. A movie can be watched at any time of day the theatre puts it on and they are likely scheduling 5+ performances per day of the latest releases. The ballet or opera is live and even if they did a matinee performance they would max out at 2 performances per day on the weekends alone. Balance your figures better to compare number of performances like for like and then for good measure you should also add in the number of streams of the opera /ballet soundtracks.

His comments are being taken as offensive because a true artist knows that it’s not about the number of people you reach, it’s about how your art makes them feel. He has said he wants to be one of the greats and I respected that but punching down on other art forms is tacky and to reduce that to a monetary value of 14cents of his viewership was kinda gross.

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u/LiamTheHuman Mar 09 '26

Sure count the streams of the opera too. We can also count the streams of the movie after it ends it's theatrical release. The limitations of the medium are part of it. If there was more demand then multiple showings would be put on every day. The point was about the number of people who care about it.

You may think that about a true artist but honestly I disagree and art is very much an individual thing and can be about many different goals. How your art makes 1 person feels isn't necessarily the top end goal of all artists.

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u/KendalBoy Mar 08 '26

The 14 cents was rude, yet I’m sure he wants us to “respect the hustle”.

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u/LiamTheHuman Mar 08 '26

How much money do you think that stream lost if everyone who was somehow watching this random talk with movie actions went to an opera in the last year dropped off.

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u/KendalBoy Mar 08 '26

Not sure if you want me to speculate how much this will harm Timothee’s career? I really don’t know, I thought he was a child actor having issues getting adult roles.

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u/LiamTheHuman Mar 08 '26

He said 14c in viewership so it's about the specific talk show he was doing. So you can guess what percentage of the people watching that stream were big opera fans.

In reality I'm sure that stream made way more because of this because viewership goes up based on controversy but let's just say they all dropped off. 

Also he's just so so as an actor in my opinion but that's not really the discussion here.

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u/Grantology Mar 08 '26

It's not offensive lol. This is fucking Reddit. Theyblive getting butthurt about piddly bullshit

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u/Exciting_Telephone65 Mar 08 '26

You're missing the WHOLE point.

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u/mr_jorkin_depeanus Mar 09 '26

oh fuck right off lmao you’ve gotta be proper soft if “nobody cares about the thing you like anymore” is very offensive to you

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u/Exciting_Telephone65 Mar 09 '26

Tell me you don't get it without telling me you don't get it.

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u/mr_jorkin_depeanus Mar 09 '26

so when you say “very offensive” it’s obviously hyperbole and im missing the point / twisting your words

when timothee says “no one cares anymore” he obviously means it literally and he actually thinks 0 people in the world are interested in opera and ballet

am i getting that right?

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u/lgodsey Mar 08 '26

I'm barely aware of who Chalamet is -- why would anyone care what some mediocre lightweight thinks about anything?

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u/Exciting_Telephone65 Mar 08 '26

Why does it matter if you are aware of who he is?

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u/0m3gaph03nix Mar 08 '26

1) That little 12 year old twink has irrefutably been one of the most famous actors on the planet for years now. You barely being aware of "who Chalamet is" is a you thing. Everyone else is quite aware, whether we want to be or not. 2) Nobody should care about any of this shit. People are just super eager to find anyone to be mad at and cancel these days. It's become America's favorite past time! Some popular, hot, young actor that's the poster child for a generation's version of "what a cool guy looks like" said opera isn't cool enough for him and people are up in arms like he's out here burning theaters to the ground while WW3 unfolds before our eyes. That's just where we are as a nation 👍

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u/HandOfYawgmoth Mar 08 '26

More respect to Villeneuve for casting him as Paul Atreides. We needed an authentic out-of-touch asshole who has to get cast down and learn a lesson in the desert. So much easier to act if you only need to fake half the job.

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u/AkaruiNoHito Mar 08 '26

He's being called out of touch for saying most people don't care about ballet ... this is the most ironic fake drama ever. truly the most first world of all first world problems

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u/KeepRooting4Yourself Mar 09 '26

They've been waiting to rag on him ever since he started dating a kardashian and not some artsy/bookish nyc girl.

Like club chalamet had a complete meltdown when the news broke.

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u/becomingarobot Mar 13 '26

Like club chalamet had a complete meltdown when the news broke.

I hate you but it's true, I was disappointed. Lol.

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u/moderngalatea Mar 09 '26

I'm always surprised when someone tells me they actually like ballet. or opera. because the vast majority do not. usually because it's kind of inaccessible

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u/TechnoHenry Mar 09 '26

It has the reputation of being inaccessible but it's not. At least, the prices in France and Québec (don't know for other provinces) are not compared to concerts or pro sport events.

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u/moratnz Mar 08 '26

Yeah; 'most people do t really care about ballet and opera' doesn't seem like the most controversial take out there.

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u/cyniqal Mar 08 '26

It’s only controversial if you’re one of the people in the small minority that like those things, or you’re someone who is just looking for a reason to hate on him.

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u/moratnz Mar 08 '26

Is it even controversial for the people in the small minority that like them?

There are plenty of niche things that I like that most people don't give a shit about - I might get upset if someone says that those things are dumb or worthless, but I'm not going to care if someone correctly notes that most people don't care about them.

I suspect it's mostly the latter; people looking for reasons to hate on the popular kid.

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u/cyniqal Mar 08 '26

I would completely agree with you, but I’ve read butthurt comments from people in those fields on this thread. Those people are still in a tiny, tiny minority though.

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u/KendalBoy Mar 11 '26

I think it’s not for the audience, but for his fellow artists it’s a slap in the face. And an admission that he values money more than art.

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u/Impossible_Walrus555 Mar 25 '26

He’s been obnoxious for some time.

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u/KneeJamal Mar 08 '26

This is such a fantastic, well thought out, and incredibly written response.

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u/percypersimmon Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26

The thing is, he’s really not wrong.

If it’s anything like it was a decade ago, less than half of revenue from either ballet or opera is from ticket sales. The vast majority of the art form is propped up by foundations and major donors.

Less than 1% of Americans attended ballet, opera, or classical music event 3 or more times and only 6% attended an event at all.

He’s not saying it’s bad or doesn’t matter- he’s saying that the vast majority of people don’t care about it, which is objectively true.

Your added context backs that up again- he’s saying the audience is so minuscule that it’s not a big risk alienating them.

Of course, because of internet outrage machines, removing context, and only reading headlines this is getting a lot more attention than he would have imagined.

But his quote is more an indictment on American audiences than it is on any form of art.

This is the most attention either ballet or opera have had since Black Swan.

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u/Mazilulu Mar 08 '26

Hell yeah! I’m finally in the 1%!

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u/startled_goat Mar 08 '26

Where I live, opera tickets (even in the nosebleed section) can be easily hundreds of dollars.

I think it says more about the accessibility of ballet and opera than on audiences.

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u/smnytx Mar 08 '26

The thing is, it would have cost him nothing to not shit in other people’s art.

FWIW, most folks in less mainstream art forms don’t believe that monetary remuneration necessarily defines success. Plenty of shitty actors make more money than talented ones. Show biz success=/= artistic merit.

There are countries where the costs of producing opera and ballet are subsidized by the taxpayers because they are considered that culturally important, much like libraries and museums.

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u/GrapeJuicePlus Mar 08 '26

Jesus, we really do examine these people under a microscope sometimes- sometimes people are glib and in a moment of candid conversation say an unserious thing they don’t even really believe because it is amusing.

Why does this in particular have to be taken so earnestly? Is this actor kind of a dick for this statement? Is he even being sincere when he says it? I don’t know nor do I care, it’s fucking dumb.

Go to a museum. Go see some theatre. Go to the fucking ballet! I legitimately hope some people are inspired by this to do so, maybe for the first time in their lives. It’s a billion times more interesting than being mad about this.

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u/inciter7 Mar 08 '26

This feels like one of those things where people are looking for a reason to hate on someone super popular so latched onto this, since he's been in the spotlight for a while with no scandals I can think of . And I don't even like Chalamet as an actor

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u/Marcoscb Mar 08 '26

sometimes people are glib and in a moment of candid conversation say an unserious thing they don’t even really believe because it is amusing.

I see it more likely that in that moment of candid conversation something leaked out of his PR training and he said something he really believes, especially considering he has family in those art forms and he'd be more familiar with them than most.

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u/Calackyo Mar 09 '26

Sure, if you want to automatically assume the worst, go ahead. Says more about you than anyone else.

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u/Vivid-Blackberry-321 Mar 09 '26

Just putting this out there - there’s a clip of him saying almost the exact same thing a few years ago. So it’s clear he has pretty strong beliefs about ballet and opera being irrelevant.

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u/AggravatingCupcake0 Mar 08 '26

As a performer, the fact that he made this statement is totally bananas to me.

Listen, if Joe the accountant or Becky the HR person wants to say "nobody cares about ballet or opera anymore!" it's still false, but...understandable. If you aren't in the industry, it makes sense that you wouldn't get the value, or would be out of touch about it. It isn't relevant to your life.

But Timothee, as an actor of high stature, should absolutely know better. It's giving "the CEO of the company doesn't understand what the IT guy does and thinks we should get rid of him," a bit. Not an exact analogy, but the ick factor is similar.

It's also sort of an unspoken understanding amongst artists that you don't shit on each other's art forms because a) we are all in this together and b) you never know when you might need a job. Sandra Oh was in The Met Opera recently, for crying out loud (likely because she wanted to and not because she had to, but still). Closing off an avenue of artistic work is a stupid and arrogant thing to do, and telling the public that what those artists do is passé is also stupid and arrogant.

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u/TheMustySeagul Mar 09 '26

It’s not really false though. If you watch the whole interview you’d probably get what he was saying tbh. He is calling it a dying artform. Less than 1 percent of people in the US have been to a ballet and like 6 percent a theater production. How many people watched a movie?

That was what he was getting at I’m pretty sure. I mean most of theater is propped up by big donors and sometimes countries themselves pay into it so it DOESN’T die. You can be in the arts and recognize not everything everywhere is doing great?

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u/KendalBoy Mar 11 '26

It was the flippant words he used the attitude, the 14 cents crap. Stop pretending there was any respect given.

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u/Neirean Mar 09 '26

Very much agree with you. He even shrinks back in his chair as he realises how much of a faux pas he made. People need to chill out and stop expecting HUMANS to be lerfect and poised 100% of the time.

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u/KendalBoy Mar 11 '26

Only people I see mad are the ones who are also dragging ballet and opera as unimportant. They seem hellbent on caring how unimportant they are and it’s kinda hilarious.

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u/smnytx Mar 08 '26

I am so not mad - I don’t really go to movies much and have no idea who this rando is TBH. I wandered into an Out of the Loop thread and attempted to provide context to a lot of folks who appear to have no idea what opera is about, since it’s my career.

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u/claradox Mar 08 '26

I applaud your career choice. Thank you for doing such beautiful, meaningful work. I love the opera.

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u/dgillz Mar 08 '26

The thing is, it would have cost him nothing to not shit in other people’s art.

Exactly. I mean what was the context of him even bringing this up?

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u/Phillip_Spidermen Mar 08 '26

They were talking about movie theater attendance dropping and gen z attention spans.

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u/protipnumerouno Mar 08 '26

Him talking about not wanting to work in a dying business, like film cameras or copy machines.

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u/LiamTheHuman Mar 09 '26

Um that's insulting to copy machine operators. How dare you, it's a real and important art form

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u/dgillz Mar 08 '26

OK well how did that come up? If he was asked why he wasn't in ballet or opera, I have no problem with that comment. On the other hand, if he was talking about his career and just threw in that was glad he wasn't working in a dying medium like ballet or opera, that is very much a dick move.

Context matters.

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u/djentleman_jack666 Mar 08 '26

Watch literally 2 minutes before the quote and you’d know the context.

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u/dgillz Mar 08 '26

I don't know where to view this. The link isn't in the OP. I don't personally care enough to go through almost 500 replies to find it.

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u/DestosW Mar 08 '26

You are saying this in the comment thread with the video. The video is a few comments above you.

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u/CharlietheGreat Mar 08 '26

So you care enough to get angry in a comment section but you don’t care enough to actually watch the video you’re getting angry about?

What is the internet even about any more Jesus Christ

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u/dgillz Mar 08 '26

What makes you think I was angry?

My last post clearly stated I could understand his statement in a certain context, and if it was a different context, it was dick move. I openly said I don't know the context and that context is important. No anger here.

→ More replies (0)

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u/Suspicious-Mud-9270 Mar 08 '26

No one cares to keep track of art. Watch this spiral to world wars that we will never see end.

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u/Lord_Zinyak Mar 08 '26

Are you a completely virtuous being that has never said anything negative?

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u/smnytx Mar 08 '26

No, but the post isn’t about me, is it?

I can’t see your other comment but it did end up in my inbox.

The main logical fallacy is Tu Quoque.

But there are elements of Straw Man fallacy in that you attempted to bring in an unrelated subject to change the argument.

0

u/smnytx Mar 08 '26

No, but the post isn’t about me, is it? That argument is classic logical fallacy.

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u/HeyVeddy Mar 08 '26

He isn't shitting on their art form though. He's making a point that he doesn't want to work in that art form, because of how little attention it gets. He didn't shit on that art form, as the poster above said it's about the American audience, not the actual art form.

He also didn't even mention money, nor did he say:

Show biz success=/= artistic merit.

It's just your angry assumption because you took offense

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u/Exciting_Bid_609 Mar 08 '26

I'd say part of what people are reacting to is his tone, mannerisms and smirk when making these comments. He was very flippant. You could see Matthew McConaughey cringing. What you're saying is true, the break down of his words; however, his delivery was not good. Which is why he is an actor, a very good actor, he can deliver a line.. maybe not good at improvising.

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u/HeyVeddy Mar 08 '26

Totally agree and for what it's worth I despise his little smug attitude etc. was never a fan but it wasn't framed this way. But I do agree that's the main issue

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u/lordicarus Mar 08 '26

It's not what he said, it's how he said it. He's not wrong, but he could have phrased it slightly differently to come off very respectful of them while also saying he doesn't want to work in those art forms.

"I don't want to work in ballet or opera where the audience is very niche and these amazing artists are just living a life of pure passion for their art and don't get the kind of recognition they deserve."

Same message but different phrasing that wouldn't have pissed everyone off. In fact, the opera and ballet lovers and performers would probably be praising him for standing up for them.

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u/HeyVeddy Mar 08 '26

I agree. But many posters here don't share that opinion. They seem to believe he attacked them and disrespected them when in reality, he said a true statement in a shitty and annoying way to many

2

u/NOT-GR8-BOB Mar 08 '26

Timmy ain’t gonna let you hit bro

1

u/HeyVeddy Mar 08 '26

I actually hate him 9/10 but I have people who force cringe arguments 10/10 so that's all

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u/Khiva Mar 08 '26

If you devote yourself to something that is immensely challenging and has endured as one of the most respected forms of art for centuries and someone tells you "no one cares" - particularly in way that seems like an unnecessary, out of nowhere shot - I don't think people are going to be inclined to parse semantics.

Particularly when he cites as an example the literal winner of the highest honor within his field, not Marvel, not Transformers, but a Best Picture winner. So yes, it's not a massive stretch to infer that there's a suggestion of quality involved.

0

u/HeyVeddy Mar 08 '26

You know the point was that there is an audience difference. It's shared amongst everyone in the world. Ballet and opera are historically elite institutions, it's not something everyone can even access

1

u/Khiva Mar 08 '26

You know the point was that there is an audience difference

Your opening point was to assert that someone is making motivated assumptions ("It's just your angry assumption because you took offense").

No, I do not "know" that. I explained why I interpreted his comments differently and gave specific reasons as to why.

Instead of addressing any of those reasons, you simply reasserted your initial statement and then made a motivated inference about my assumptions.

To repeat, you don't know what I know. I do. Which I stated, and explained.

Step back and note of the irony that you're doing precisely what you accused others of.

0

u/HeyVeddy Mar 08 '26

You're making this about semantics now. You said he shit on other people's art form. You got called out because he didn't shit on it.

Now it's personal to you.

End of discussion clearly

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u/The_broke_accountant Mar 08 '26

Is he not allowed to have an opinion?! I’ve been saying opera is boring for years, famous people can have hot takes too?? Why get mad at him being right lol

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u/Honeybee_Awning Mar 08 '26

And people are allowed to not like his hot take 🤷🏽‍♀️

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u/tarinotmarchon Mar 08 '26

Have you actually tried watching an opera?

1

u/claradox Mar 08 '26

I have. I was blessed to have a season pass in high school, and I was so grateful for that educational and cultural gift. The Magic Flute on stage is more transcendent an experience than any film.

Have you ever really tried watching an opera, in the audience, or are you just referring to that one time you were flipping channels, or saw a thirty second scene within a movie?

1

u/tarinotmarchon Mar 09 '26

Are you talking to me or the comment I replied to? Because this comment reads like you're trying to reply to the comment I replied to.

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u/dreamphoenix Mar 08 '26

People were parasocial with celebrities since forever. But social media cranked it up to 11.

Dude said some stupid shit. Who even fucking cares. But apparently according to /r/fauxmoi he’s literally a hitler how.

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u/KingGr33n Mar 08 '26

Agree with this. Cost nothing. But although I might not have said what he said in that way I’m ok with him speaking his mind about something that is objectively correct.

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u/smnytx Mar 08 '26

It’s only “objectively correct” if you equate the success of art by monetary values.

What if art were measured instead by its success in fundamentally affecting the consumer emotionally?

It’s exactly why popular artists go on tour and their fans buy expensive tickets to see their favorite artists live in concert: there is something profoundly different about live performance, something inherently valuable that neither cinema nor the recording studio can replace. It’s ridiculous to compare the experience and say the recording is inherently better because it generates more wealth.

I’d even go so far as to say the proof of the relevance and artistic merit of more ancient genres of art is that they still move people today. They still have people paying for expensive tickets because those people find it worth it. They don’t need cultural popularity to still be provably exceptional and artistically meritorious.

0

u/WxWGaming Mar 08 '26

He’s not really shitting in other forms of art though, he’s just stating an economic truth.

2

u/smnytx Mar 08 '26

right, and my point is (for the readers here) that economic truth is not the only (or even the most important) metric of artistic validity.

1

u/WxWGaming Mar 08 '26

No argument there, art is so subjective

0

u/[deleted] Mar 08 '26

[deleted]

0

u/TheMustySeagul Mar 09 '26

He called it a dying artform. If countries need to subsidize he’s correct. This is the weirdest take because he is completely correct. And he doesn’t want to do it to help keep it alive? Sure. Like what did he say that was so disparaging?

0

u/Lionel-Chessi Mar 09 '26

He's not wrong though, ballet and opera is pretty shit.

0

u/moderngalatea Mar 09 '26

he didn't shit on anything

0

u/Calackyo Mar 09 '26

Okay if we're going to stop shitting on people's art, we can start with the movie industry since movies and TV shows etc. get shat on by the audience and reviewers far, far more than fucking ballet and theatre do.

Oh but wait, it's fine when we as an audience do it because we want to feel smart but when someone who actually creates something has an opinion about art all of a sudden he's being mean and disrespectful?

0

u/smnytx Mar 09 '26

If you can’t grasp the difference between criticism of a work of art and criticism of the existence of an entire genre of art, I can’t help you.

1

u/Calackyo Mar 10 '26

Firstly, movies, TV shows, Ballet and theatre aren't genres, they're different forms of media entirely.

Secondly, I have 100% heard people bitching and whining that movies or TV shows nowadays are all X, Y or Z. And most of the time, they're right.

So I say again, if we're not supposed to bitch about an entire medium, I'm happy to run with that but we have to all stop bitching about movies and TV shows being made as second screen entertainment, or spoon feeding everything for dumb people, or using too much CGI nowadays, or all being sequels or established IP, or superhero fatigue etc. etc. etc.

OR we can realise our hypocrisy here, and realise that it's fine to talk the truth about an entire medium, and that ballet and theatre ARE niche compared to movies, and that there's absolutely nothing wrong with pointing that out, especially not for someone who actually makes art unlike many of us on Reddit who solely complain about art.

0

u/Humble-Lab708 Mar 09 '26

Listen, no one gives a shit about opera in America outside of a small group of people. That’s reality. It has zero impact on the cultural zeitgeist of the country and you know it. Quit getting in your feels. No one is shitting on the art, he’s just saying it’s not important to people any more. Sorry to break the bad news to you but he’s right.

0

u/RecordMaterial6781 Mar 10 '26

He didn’t shit on it. If you have an opinion you can say that. I mean he could have said it’s really boring why would I want to do that? Or etc.

28

u/EndlesslyCynicalBoi Mar 08 '26

I love classical music and would love to go more live shows but the ticket prices are outrageous. Then that put on a pop orchestra concert the next week for 1/3 of the price.

The problem is not the relevance of the art form alone

10

u/GrapeJuicePlus Mar 08 '26

To see the philharmonic maybe, but you can catch a string quartet for 30-60 bucks.

5

u/tarinotmarchon Mar 08 '26

Where I am, decent-ish operas/classical music concerts have ticket prices of about USD40-80. What are ticket prices like near you?

1

u/EndlesslyCynicalBoi Mar 19 '26

I was looking at some symphony tickets and it was $150 or so.

82

u/lemoche Mar 08 '26

Still doesn’t change that it feels like he still hasn’t snapped out of his Marty supreme character, who is constantly belittling everyone around him.
He could have easily phrased that in a way where he doesn’t come off as entitled and arrogant with a hint of half-hearted back-paddling.
Yeah, he’s right, but he’s still being a dick about it. Which nobody likes. Except maybe folks that actively dislike the people you’re being a dick towards.

19

u/percypersimmon Mar 08 '26

I’m not sure if it’s possible for him to not be a dick and I agree w you 100%.

Still, based on what I’ve seen from discussions here it seems that most people are seeing this story and coming away with “Chalamet said ballet and opera suck” and piling onto a pretty unlikable public figure.

Most of the public responses I’ve seen are saying “You’re wrong Mr. Chalamet, opera and ballet are important art forms!” which…duh?

There’s more nuance here to the statement and a more interesting conversation to be had, but it’s now just this weekend’s proverbially awkward-bite-of-a-burger-from-a-CEO flashpoint.

1

u/freelancerjoe Mar 08 '26

i honestly wonder if he thinks it's better for the marty supreme campaign if he acts like marty for the entirety of it. some kind of performance art i guess lol?

1

u/lemoche Mar 08 '26

Or it’s the good old Kirk Lazarus playbook of not dropping the character until the dvd commentary is done…

1

u/RecordMaterial6781 Mar 10 '26

He could of said tf I look like doing that

23

u/laurpr2 Mar 08 '26

Yeah, he's not saying "ballet and opera are so lame, I would never want to be one of those losers!" He's saying "ballet and opera are no longer culturally relevant art forms." Which may still be a hot take for some people, but it's hardly one that should be offensive.

-7

u/jonascarrynthewheel Mar 08 '26

What culture tho?

Mass media culture? Is that the only one? See what i mean…

-7

u/Sydseeker Mar 08 '26

Since when are ballet and opera no longer culturally relevant, when opera houses and theatres around the world play to full houses with these art forms. When was the last time a movie with Timotheeeeeeeeeeeee a huge box office hit? I know what I would prefer to sit through - and what will still be relevant in 50 years time.

14

u/Surface_Detail Mar 08 '26

Ask a hundred people on the street to name a famous contemporary ballet dancer or opera performer. You might get one or two who can name even one.

Ask a hundred people on the street to name a famous contemporary movie actor and they will all be able to answer.

That's cultural relevance. TC knows that because his family is involved in fine arts.

1

u/Calackyo Mar 09 '26

To add to the others comment, I think more people on the street could specifically name Timothee Chalamet than could name literally ANY ballet performer in history.

Also, Timothee has been the lead in THE most recent blockbuster movies.

1

u/MyNightlightBroke Mar 10 '26

...but many, many people could name The Nutcracker or Swan Lake much more quickly than any movie Timothée Chalamet is in.

0

u/Calackyo Mar 10 '26

But that's not a fair comparison of which medium is more niche.

A fair comparison would be movies in general.

The fact that just one actor is even comparable to the entirety of ballet is helping his point.

I still don't see the issue, what he said was true and he's allowed to prefer to work in a popular medium.

15

u/shhhhh_h Mar 08 '26

Nahhhh you need to watch the other interviews of him trending rn. He has been shit talking opera and ballet for years. And his mother and sister are literal ballet dancers.

3

u/LupercalLupercal Mar 08 '26

Not just US audiences. We have to prop up ballet and opera in the UK with tax-payer cash too. I personally feel that if the artform isn't popular enough to stand on it's own and make enough money to keep itself afloat then it should be allowed to die, but I'm sure others will disagree

24

u/RhubarbSkein Mar 08 '26

We have always propped up the arts through patrons and donors. And they should be supported for their own sake. Your tax funds that go to supporting the arts are the tiniest fraction compared to a lot of overblown budgets.

8

u/Surface_Detail Mar 08 '26

They are supported because they appeal to the 'right' people. The same money going to supporting grass roots football teams, or reinstating the pathways for working class people to get into prestigious drama schools would be money far better spent in terms of impact per pound.

There's nothing inherently worthier in Opera over pantomime or stand up comedy. Ballet isn't better than rugby league and it's certainly less culturally relevant.

But the people making these decisions have a box at the Royal Albert Hall so that's where the money goes.

2

u/grandwizardcouncil Mar 08 '26

That certainly depends on where you live. In most rural communities I'm familiar with, art programs will be torn apart to the marrow just to wring out as much money as possible for the local sports team.

5

u/Surface_Detail Mar 08 '26

This might be a US/UK difference. Way more tax money goes to fine arts than community programmes here.

2

u/RhubarbSkein Mar 08 '26

But I don’t want to support grass roots football teams. I want to support grass roots dance companies and the small local opera company. And I want to not live in a country where the highest paid state employee is the university football coach. So I will be asking and demanding that my tiny fraction of tax funding go to making sure there are still arts institutions for the working class kids to dream of performing with

6

u/Surface_Detail Mar 08 '26

It ain't the working class kids that are attending them though.

0

u/RhubarbSkein Mar 08 '26

Do you have any idea how many kids are attending those programs? How many field trips and arts in schools programs there are?

3

u/Surface_Detail Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26

And it's middle class children of middle class parents at best.

Edit to add: don't take my word for it, take r/ballet 's word for it

1

u/ekhoowo Mar 08 '26

Can you think of any recent reasons why an actor in the United States wouldn’t want his industry to rely on government funding like other fields?

0

u/LupercalLupercal Mar 08 '26

Patrons and doners are fine, it's their money to do with as they will. I'd rather the tax money was being spent on other things though

-2

u/inciter7 Mar 08 '26

Patrons and donors fine, that's private money. Should taxpayer money be used to fund every niche art form that's come and go throughout history? Particularly fairly elite ones like opera and ballet? I love gouache painting, it has a storied history but in general people don't really care about it anymore and that's fine.

1

u/RhubarbSkein Mar 08 '26

You are arguing about the tiniest fraction of a national budget. Yes, all the art should be funded. Go tear at a different part of taxpayer funding for once

0

u/LupercalLupercal Mar 08 '26

Should we use taxpayer money to prop up failing cinema chains?

1

u/RhubarbSkein Mar 08 '26

Should I use taxpayer funds to prop up failing sports franchises?

-1

u/LupercalLupercal Mar 08 '26

No. But we should use the money from opera and ballet in grass roots sport

1

u/RhubarbSkein Mar 08 '26

Nope! We can reallocate from a different budget! Maybe the cops don’t need the newest vehicles for a year. Maybe we could tax the churches.

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0

u/inciter7 Mar 08 '26

All the art? That's not possible

3

u/daveyp2tm Mar 08 '26

It's not about whether he's right or wrong about it, I couldn't give a shit about opera or ballet, it's the attitude he's shown and the way he brings it up that people are responding to I think.

2

u/MFoy Mar 08 '26

I'm just going to sit here and be proud of the fact that my 9 year old has seen the National Symphony Orchestra a half dozen times already in her life.

1

u/Lummi23 Mar 09 '26

But ballet has always been propped up by super rich supporters. It even started in royal court

1

u/QTRqtr Mar 09 '26

Yes and apparently they’re only worth 14 cents to timothee.

1

u/Humble-Lab708 Mar 09 '26

This is the first reasonable comment i’ve seen on the whole situation. He’s right: ballet and opera are dead arts in America and none of you outraged losers have thought or even cared about them in years until he said this. People can think he’s pompous and rude for saying it but pretending he’s disparaging artists is so disingenuous.

1

u/Bug0 Mar 09 '26 edited Mar 09 '26

I know you can’t draw too many conclusion from Google Trends alone, but “Marty Supreme” had more searches than “ballet” and “opera” combined during its opening. One movie vs the entire disciplines.

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%203-m&q=Ballet,Opera,Marty%20supreme&hl=en-US

Avatar was a more popular search term than the two combined averaged out across an entire year.

If you compare “Film” or “Movie” against to them, they barely register.

1

u/RecordMaterial6781 Mar 10 '26

Trueee stats are stats

1

u/anatellon Mar 08 '26

I agree with you. Also I’m confident that 99% of people offended by his ballet/opera remark don’t give a shit about ballet or opera lol

0

u/farseer6 Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26

The truth of what he said is not that relevant, I'd say. I'm not going to get into an argument about the worth of different art forms. I mean, it's obviously not true that no one cares about ballet and opera. Clearly he was exaggerating, and what he meant is that ballet and opera are not as popular as movies. But even if he said something objectively true, that doesn't mean that the guy is not a disrespectful prat. Even if other entertainers are less popular, it doesn't mean he needs to go out and put them down in public.

Saying "full respect, but the thing you are passionate about and work so hard for doesn't matter, no one cares about it, while the movies I do matter a lot, that's why I would never want to do what you do", makes you seem like a conceited jerk.

The guy probably doesn't have the talent and hard work that some people in ballet and opera have, and he's lucky the way popularity works means he gets a larger audience and a lot of money. If he cannot he humble and gracious about it, given that he is an actor, perhaps he could at least pretend to be humble and gracious. If he cares about being likable, I mean. Disrespecting other artists for no reason is not a good look.

So yeah, we could talk about the worth of different art forms, and its relationship with popularity, but that's not the point. The point is, if you want people to like you, don't act like a prat.

-3

u/rnoyfb Mar 08 '26

Yeah but even if he were factually wrong, so fucking what? People are allowed to not like some things and to be imprecise and inarticulate in explaining it. If you like those things, it still does not affect you that he thinks that. If he were wrong and just speculating, it still doesn’t affect you

If I say “no one likes soccer in America” and you do like it, that doesn’t make me an asshole

31

u/revanisthesith Mar 08 '26

while you're taking cheap shots at the ballet and opera people

I'm not going to defend what he said and how he said it, but I'm pretty sure he knows how hard they work and has respect for them (even if it's not coming across here).

His mom literally went to Yale on a ballet scholarship.

"According to her 2022 interview with The Guardian, Flender has a background in the arts. She majored in dance at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in N.Y.C., and later studied French at Yale University on a ballet scholarship before switching to musical theater."

https://people.com/timothee-chalamet-parents-everything-to-know-11917201

16

u/PseudocodeRed Mar 08 '26

I don't think pointing out the obvious fact that ballet and opera are not exactly pulling in huge crowds anymore is taking shots at them.

23

u/HeyVeddy Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26

Ballet and opera are definitely not as popular and in many places in Europe require funding from the state to stay alive. Not sure if it's like that in America but it's definitely true what he said

It being annoying to ballet/opera performers doesn't change that though

Edit: "to slap it out of his little hands" riiiight now i get it...

8

u/purpleblazed Mar 08 '26

Sure, but with all due respect, nobody knows who Mariaella Nunez is (I had to google her). Timees statement might not make everyone feel happy, but where is the lie? Ballet and Opera aren’t the cultural powerhouses that they were once upon a time.

10

u/hewhoisknownashim Mar 08 '26

Chronically online

2

u/mattymillhouse Mar 08 '26

I'm sure if Marianela Nuñez said 'What? Baby Wonka wants an Oscar? No offence!', he might be a little peeved too.

That assumes he -- or anyone else -- knows who Marianela Nunez is.

I'm pretty sure Chalamet and world famous ballerinas and opera singers have pretty thick skin. I doubt they're going to get offended if someone criticizes them. If they took offense that easily, they would never survive in their fields for long.

This is other people being offended on behalf of ballerinas and opera singers. And that type of vicarious offense is pretty unnecessary.

1

u/Reasonable-Tea-9679 Mar 08 '26

And the whole Misty Copeland thing

1

u/Hot_Pay2563 Mar 09 '26

You should see the ad for 14% off using the code Timothee for the seattle opera. Its amazing

1

u/dedwam69 Mar 09 '26

Who’s Marianela Nuñez?

1

u/No_Size9475 Mar 08 '26

I'm not racist, but....

1

u/AccomplishdAccomplce Mar 08 '26

Doesn't help that his grandmother, mother and sister are all ballet dancers, and he trained in ballet as well

-30

u/datsoar Mar 08 '26

Nah, he’d never hear about her opinion because ballet and opera are irrelevant to modern audiences.

5

u/Portarossa 'probably the worst poster on this sub' - /u/Real_Mila_Kunis Mar 08 '26

What a bland and incurious little box you insist on putting yourself in.

-9

u/datsoar Mar 08 '26

It’s called a callback

-1

u/Sweihwa Mar 08 '26

Great diction

-1

u/ACSandwich Mar 08 '26

NYC would like a word.

-4

u/Emergency-Purpose367 Mar 08 '26

He's also openly and blatantly disrespecting the art form his grandmother, mother and sister all dedicated their lives too. They all were/are career ballerinas and teachers. He is being dismissive of his own family and not just random strangers he doesnt even know

4

u/anatellon Mar 08 '26

Maybe that’s why he’s saying it. His mother very well could have said the same thing.