Jon Stewart has become the latest voice to weigh in on Timothée Chalamet’s ballet and opera controversy, waiting until the dust from the Oscars had barely settled to deliver his verdict.
In his first Daily show broadcast after the ceremony, Stewart declared the case definitively resolved.
“As of last night, it’s clear that opera and ballet have defeated Timothée Chalamet,” he said after Chalamet lost the best actor race to Sinners star Michael B. Jordan.
“No contest. A knockout! Even before they brought out prima ballerina Misty Copeland in the middle of the Sinners performance right in front of him. Boom. Then opera and ballet!”
It was a neat summation of an internet frenzy and star battle that has been going on for some time now.
The trouble started when Chalamet, speaking at a town hall event, said he didn’t want to work in art forms like ballet or opera, where the track was essentially keeping something alive that no one cares about anymore.
The backlash was swift and sustained, with ballet and opera companies sending him show invitations, peers lining up to criticize him, and the story fueling the online comment machine for days.
By the time the Academy Awards took place on March 15, controversy had become part of the fabric of the ceremony.
Host Conan O’Brien addressed it in his opening monologue, joking that security was tight due to concerns about attacks from the ballet and opera communities.
Copeland’s performance during Sinners musical number, she had been among the most prominent voices to publicly criticize Chalamet, gave the evening an extra layer of symbolism that was hard to miss.
