Timothée Chalamet may have just stepped into a PR minefield. Following the Marty Supreme star’s viral comments dismissing ballet and opera, Los Angeles is firing back with some hilarious jabs. His exact words were: “I don’t want to be working in ballet, or opera, or things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though like no one cares about this anymore.'”
LA Opera responds
Leading the charge, LA Opera put forth a masterful social media sting. Posting a stunning visual from Philip Glass’s Akhnaten, they tagged the actor with: “We’d offer you complimentary tickets, but it’s selling out.” BURN! By highlighting a sold-out, avant-garde production, the institution effectively dismantled Chalamet’s “dusty” stereotype with cold, hard data.
Craving the classics?
Ballet of Lights in L.A. combines fibre-optic costumes with beautiful interpretations of fairytales, with attendees saying that it’s, “unique, beautiful, innovative, and able to convey the traditional storyline.”
Ballet of Lights: Sleeping Beauty in a Sparkling Show-4.36
·604 reviews
Candlelight in L.A. pays tribute to everything from modern musicians to classical composers like Vivaldi on strings, by the light of thousands of candles.
Candlelight: The Best of Bridgerton on Strings-4.91
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The critique turned personal when L.A. icon Jamie Lee Curtis entered the fray. Curtis questioned why any artist would “punch down” at another, she amplified concerns that in an era of Artificial Intelligence, live performers who cannot be faked should be protected, not ridiculed.
A blow to the Oscar race?
The timing couldn’t be worse. With Oscar season in full swing, local outlets like the L.A. Times are speculating that this controversy might have “iced” Chalamet’s awards momentum. Between Grammy-winner Isabel Leonard calling his views “narrow-minded” and local dancers pointing out his own family’s ballet roots, he may find this city a bit chilly this spring.
