NEWSMisty Copeland Blasts Timothée Chalamet for Being 'Naive' After His Controversial Ballet Comments: 'He Has Incredible Privilege'
Ballerina Misty Copeland called the 'Marty Supreme' actor 'naive.'
June 24 2026, Updated 7:57 p.m. ET
Ballet dancer Misty Copeland gave her two cents regarding Timothée Chalamet's questionable comments he made previously about ballet and opera.
The American Ballet Theatre alum, 43, appeared on a recent episode of Maria Sharapova's "Pretty Tough" show where she discussed the Dune actor, 30, and his stance on the theater arts.
Misty Copeland gave her take on Timothée Chalamet's recent remarks.
“Not everyone has the opportunity and the privilege to have been a part of it, and he was," Copeland said. "He grew up in New York City, exposed to a plethora of arts and in ballet, and immersed in this world."
Misty Copeland Said Opera and Ballet Provide a Foundation for Film
Misty Copeland spoke with Maria Sharapova on the Vox Media podcast regarding Timothée Chalamet.
"Not everyone has that incredible privilege," the ballerina continued. "I know that those things have made an impact on him and clearly have influenced who he is as an artist and who he is as a person. I think that opera and ballet are kind of the foundation and catalyst for film and for television and so many other art forms and it's just a little bit naive to make such a statement."
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'I've worked my entire career to be able to continue to make it feel important to a whole new community that didn't always feel that way.' Misty Copeland said.
Copeland added people "all talk and we say things that we don't always mean, but I think that it was more kind of hurtful to the community to say that people didn't care."
"I've worked my entire career to be able to continue to make it feel important to a whole new community that didn't always feel that way," the Firebird author stated. "There's intention and there's work being done and we're fighting against systems, we don't have government funding. It's a really difficult thing to continue to keep evolving and for people to really feel interested.”
Timothée Chalamet Made His Jaw-Dropping Comments Days Before the Oscars
Timothée Chalamet lost out on the Best Actor Oscar this year.
Chalamet caused a stir back in February when had a conversation with Matthew McConaughey for CNN where they spoke about preserving cinema.
The Oscar nominee dismissed both opera and ballet dancing as legitimate art forms.
"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,'" Chalamet said.
The 'Dune' actor slammed ballet just days before the 2026 Oscars.
"All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there," he quickly noted. "I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason."
His comments came just days before the 98th Academy Awards, where he was up for Best Actor for his role in Marty Supreme. However, he lost the golden statuette to Michael B. Jordan for his work in Ryan Coogler's Sinners.
Several critics believed Chalamet's statements he made just before ceremony impacted his chances of winning the coveted award, with Oscars host Conan O'Brien even roasting him in the opening monologue.
