After Timothée Chalamet took aim at the ballet and opera communities, that was pretty much all the 2026 Oscar attendees could speak about.
“Security is extremely tight tonight,” host Conan O’Brien opened his Sunday, March 15, monologue. “I’m told there’s concerns about a tax from both the opera and ballet communities.”
Chalamet, nominated for leading actor for his role in Marty Supreme, recently proclaimed that he wasn’t interested in either art form.
“Some people want to be entertained quickly. I’m really right in the middle because I admire people [saying], ‘Hey, we gotta keep movie theaters alive. We gotta keep this genre alive,’” Chalamet told Variety in February. “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore.”
Chalamet, whose grandmother and mother are retired ballerinas, quickly walked back his comments and gave “all respect to the ballet and opera people out there.”
“Damn, I just took shots for no reason,” the actor quipped.
Chalamet didn’t further address the controversy in the lead-up to the Oscars or at the ceremony itself.
Keep scrolling for a guide to all the ballet and opera mentions at the 2026 Academy Awards:
Conan O’Brien’s Monologue
Oscars host Conan O’Brien couldn’t resist adding in a joke about Timothée Chalamet’s comments in his monologue.
“Security is extremely tight tonight. I just got to mention that,” O’Brien said. “I’m told there’s concerns about a tax from both the opera and ballet communities.”
O’Brien paused as the camera panned over to Chalamet, who coyly laughed off the reference.
“They’re just mad you left out jazz,” O’Brien added.
A Ballet Pioneer
During the Sinners musical tribute, the cast was accompanied by Misty Copeland for its rendition of “I Lied To You.” (Copeland was the first Black principal at the American Ballet Theatre before her retirement in 2025.)
“That’s definitely how it seems, but it was not at all,” Copeland told Vogue ahead of Sunday’s performance, denying her performance was a rebuttal to Timothée Chalamet. “I had agreed to do this before any of this stuff was happening and had blown up the way that it has.”
Ballet and Opera Can Change the World
The Best Live Action Short Film was awarded to The Singers and Two People Exchanging Saliva. During the latter’s acceptance speech, Alexandre Singh touched on the two art forms.
“We believe that art can change people’s souls,” Singh said in his speech. “Maybe it takes 10 years time but we can change society through art, through creativity [and] through theater and ballet … and also cinema.”
Kevin O’Leary Is Still All-In on Timothee Chalamet
On the red carpet, Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary speculated that Timothée Chalamet’s comment wouldn’t have an impact on his chances at winning an Oscar.
“I just put 1,000 bucks on [betting app] Kalshi walking in here that he’s gonna win,” O’Leary told Variety. “Because I know the voting stopped long before that controversy happened. He’s a really great guy, his mother’s really nice. The kid is a great kid. He took a bum rap on that. By the way, he gave a lot of promo to opera houses and ballet.”
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