‘Ain’t nobody dressing up to go and see ‘Wonka’’: Black ballet and opera performers call out Timothée Chalamet

Doja Cat joins Black ballet and opera performers in calling Timothée Chalamet out for disparaging classic art.

After Timothée Chalamet’s comments about no one caring about the opera or ballet exploded across the internet, Doja Cat is joining the chorus of performers calling him out.

In a since-deleted TikTok, the 30-year-old singer defended the centuries-old art forms while sharply criticizing Chalamet for dismissing them.

Noting that opera and ballet have endured for hundreds of years, she argued that audiences and artists remain deeply devoted to the traditions behind them.

“Opera is 400 years old. Ballet is 500 years old,” she said before taking aim at Chalamet directly, intentionally mispronouncing his name. “Somebody named Timothée Chalamet … had the nerve to say on camera that nobody cares about it.”

She added that the etiquette and reverence inside theaters speaks for itself.

“It’s f— beautiful,” she said.

Doja also highlighted the physical sacrifice behind the art forms, noting that dancers and singers dedicate years of rigorous training to their craft and continue to show up even when industries face challenges.

“People give a f—,” she said.

Doja Cat comments on what Timothée Chalamet had said about ballet and opera recently. pic.twitter.com/Z2Gu1bXefd— Doja HQ (@DojaHQs) March 8, 2026

The defense arrived after footage resurfaced of the “Marty Supreme” star’s conversation with Matthew McConaughey during a Variety interview. While discussing dwindling attention spans among audiences, the 30-year-old actor joked that he wouldn’t want to work in either art form.

“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,’” he said with a laugh.

Since the footage began circulating, figures across the classical arts world have weighed in — including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Ballet and Opera, award-winning soprano Candice Hoyes, and dancer-choreographer Amar Smalls.

Commenting under the viral clip, Hoyes, whose versatile talent has landed on her stages like Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and beyond, noted, “Opera is not ‘Keeping up w Kardashians.’” 

“I hope his movies endure for a few hundred years like opera and ballet … this is why knowing history is powerful,” she continued.

Smalls, whose background spans companies including the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and American Ballet Theatre, echoed the sentiment in a video posted to Instagram.

“People still care about ballet and opera,” he said. “The tickets are just mad expensive because it’s high art.”

He also highlighted how the formality surrounding attending performances is another sign of that dedication. 

“People come in their best outfits to come and see ballet. Ain’t nobody dressing up to go and see ‘Wonka.’ It’s equivalent to taking your girl on a date to Nobu or McDonald’s. Ain’t nobody putting on a best fit to go to McDonald’s,” he said before taking a jab at Chalamet’s recent antics promoting “Marty Supreme,” where he gave a tribute to Soulja Boy while in Brazil in December. 

“While we here, let’s talk about how you use Black culture and you dressed up as Soulja Boy in 2006 to promote ‘Marty Supreme.’ If we really want to take shots. We could really take shots,” he warned.

He further warned that live performance may have the last laugh in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

“When AI takes over, or whatever, bro …  AI can’t go on stage and give a beautiful performance like ‘Swan Lake.’ They could definitely do ‘Marty Supreme,’ though,” he said. 

He added, “I think in the next coming years, that perception of people not caring about ballet and opera will definitely change, definitely change, and I’ll make sure of it.”

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Others reacting online have also pointed out that Chalamet’s own family has deep ties to ballet. His sister, Pauline Chalamet, along with his mother and grandmother, was a ballet dancer. He also attended a performing arts high school near Lincoln Center and grew up in New York City, long known as one of the world’s biggest hubs for the performing arts.