Misty Copeland Claps Back at Timothée Chalamet for His Comments Slamming Ballet and Opera
Misty Copeland Claps Back at Timothée Chalamet for His Comments Slamming Ballet and Opera
Skyler CarusoTue, March 10, 2026 at 5:24 PM UTC
8
Misty Copeland; Timothée Chalamet.Credit: Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty; Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty -
Misty Copeland clapped back at Timothée Chalamet after he claimed that "no one cares about" ballet and opera
The professional ballet dancer shed light on the importance of those art forms, and why they've been around for over 400 years
The Marty Supreme star's controversial comments were made in conversation with Matthew McConaughey on Feb. 24
Misty Copeland is speaking up.
The professional ballet dancer, 43, clapped back at Timothée Chalamet after the actor, 30, slammed ballet and opera during his Variety and CNN town hall with Matthew McConaughey, claiming that "no one cares about" those art forms.
"First I have to say that it's very interesting that he invited me to be a part of promoting Marty Supreme with respect to my art form," she began when speaking on a panel at Aveeno and TOGETHXR's "The Strength Issue" launch at Lavan Midtown in New York City on Sunday, March 8.
Misty Copeland attends as Aveeno and TOGETHXR launch "The Strength Issue" at LAVAN Midtown on March 8, 2026 in New York City.Credit: John Nacion/Getty
"But I think that it's important that we acknowledge that, yes, this is an art form that's not 'popular' and a part of pop culture as movies are," Copeland continued. "But that doesn't mean it doesn't have enduring relevance in culture."
The famed ballerina said that it's "often mistaken when something is popular that it's meaningful or more impactful," but clarified, "There's a reason that the opera and ballet have been around for over 400 years."
Copeland — who made history in 2015 as the first Black woman promoted to principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre — cited "access and opportunity" as factors that can change a person's life, which is what she's set out to do for her Misty Copeland Foundation.
"That's the work that I've been doing my whole career is to bring more people into it," she explained. "So that people do understand the importance and the relevance of it in our communities and our culture, and you see it reflected everywhere."
Misty Copeland (right) and Calvin Royal III perform in a duet from "Romeo and Juliet" at Copeland's retirement performance from American Ballet Theatre at the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on Oct. 22, 2025.Credit: Rosalie O'Connor via AP
"I mean, he wouldn't be an actor and have the opportunities he has as a movie star if it weren't for opera and ballet in their relevance in that medium," Copeland said of Chalamet, concluding, "So all of these mediums have a space and we shouldn't be comparing them."
Copeland took her final bow with American Ballet Theatre in October 2025, marking an end to her 25-year career with the company.
The prima ballerina's comments come after Chalamet made the controversial remarks during his conversation with McConaughey in front of an audience at the University of Texas at Austin on Feb. 24.
Advertisement
Timothée Chalamet attends the 83rd annual Golden Globe Awards.Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty
During that discussion, the Interstellar costars talked about the current trend of movies placing "their biggest action set pieces up front," referencing Matt Damon's recent similar comments.
Chalamet listed Netflix's 2025 Frankenstein adaptation as an example of a popular movie that "pulled people in" without "extraordinarily fast" pacing.
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
"It does take you having to wave a flag of, 'Hey, this is a serious movie,' or something, and some people do want to be entertained and quickly," the Oscar-nominated actor said. "I'm really right in the middle, Matthew. I admire people, and I've done it myself, who go on a talk show and say, 'Hey, we've got to keep movie theaters alive, we've gotta keep this genre alive,' and another part of me feels like if people want to see it, like Barbie, like Oppenheimer, they're going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it."
Misty Copeland performs onstage at the 37th Annual Kennedy Center Honors at The John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts on December 7, 2014 in Washington, DC.Credit: Kevin Mazur/WireImage
He continued, "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.' All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there."
The Marty Supreme star immediately recognized that his comments could be seen as disparaging. "I just lost 14 cents in viewership," he said with a laugh. "I just took shots for no reason."
Sure enough, some opera and ballet performers responded negatively to Chalamet's comments in the nine days since the discussion aired.
Isabelle Leonard, a Grammy award-winning opera singer, wrote in a comment on the video that she felt "shocked that someone so seemingly successful can be so ineloquent and narrow-minded in his views about art while considering himself as artist as I would only imagine one would as an actor."
Chalamet is nominated for best actor at the upcoming Academy Awards for his performance in Marty Supreme.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
