A big no for Timothée Chalamet

Timothée Chalamet was supposed to win the Oscar for Best Actor. He was once again exceptionally good in Marty Supreme and belongs to the legion of exceptional talents. But he didn't win. And that, dear people, was his own fault. The reason Timothée didn't win an Oscar and turned the people of the Academy Awards against him was Timothée himself.

Here's how it went

A few weeks ago he was Timothée a guest on a talk show. There he said, with quite a bit of disdain in his voice, that he would never want to work in the ballet or opera world. Such a dead industry that everyone working there desperately tries to keep alive and where no one cares about.

As if that wasn't enough, he threw his head back, produced a laugh that emitted a wave of disdain and then said: “With all due respect to all the ballet and opera people out there.”

I believe I always find that the most unkind addition: with all due respect. Because when people say that, there has usually been a huge dagger stab beforehand.

Everyone angry at Timothée Chalamet

What followed was a Mount Everest of reactions from ‘all the people from the ballet and opera world’ who posted videos of euphoric audiences in a sold-out hall. “If ballet is a dying industry, how do you explain this?” Or: “Why do people pay only 10 euros for a movie ticket, but 150 euros to see an opera or ballet performance?”

Especially in times when AI is going to dominate the world, the real craft of dance and opera is something that is irreplaceable. Anyway, the cultural world was on fire and danced with torches in hand around Timothée Chalamet. His mother was, mind you, a dancer and didn't he once wear a cap from the New York Ballet?

It felt like betrayal and, to quote my youngest daughter, everyone was angry, angry, angry.

No Oscar for Timothée

Meanwhile, Timothée's life just went on. No sorry, no ‘oops that came out a bit awkward’, no ‘mea culpa’ and no visit to a ballet company. None of that.

And according to journalists from international newspapers and also according to me, he fell on his own sword with that remark. It seems a bit like you're pissing over your own base. People were already questioning his relationship with Kylie Jenner, not exactly the emblem of culture, and now it seems like Timothée might not be who people thought he was.

How can someone who played such amazing films as Call Me by Your Name, Beautiful Boy, and now Marty Supreme suddenly seem so flat? Anyway: Timothée was not waiting for a shiny trophy. And that was the talk of the evening there in steamy Los Angeles. What was delightful, however, was Conan O'Brien's roast of Timothée. He said: “Today we have extra security because we expect attacks from both the opera and the ballet world.” Then he left some space for a delightful laugh pause and an awkward moment for Timothée to continue with: “They’re just mad that you forgot to mention jazz.” Quite brilliantly done.