Why Timothee Chalamet's Ballet and Opera Comments Likely Won't Affect His Odds of Winning an Oscar

The 'Marty Supreme' actor was in the running for Best Actor long before his comments on ballet and opera went viral.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 15: Timothée Chalamet attends the 98th Oscars at Dolby Theatre on March 15, 2026 in Hollywood, California.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images

Timothée Chalamet might’ve sent social media abuzz with his controversial remarks on ballet and opera earlier this month, but it likely won’t affect his chances at winning the Academy Award for Best Actor.

In February, Chalamet and his Interstellar co-star, Matthew McConaughey, held a live town hall hosted by Variety and CNN, where the Marty Supreme star jokingly dismissed ballet and opera as archaic.

“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,’” he said during the event. “All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason."

But despite Chalamet’s comments offending the likes of Steven Spielberg, Misty Copeland and more, the actor still has a good likelihood of winning Best Actor at the 98th Academy Awards. The town hall was uploaded on February 24 but didn’t go viral until around March 6. By then, voting for this year’s Academy Awards had ended on March 5.

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