Whoopi Goldberg Slams Timothée Chalamet's Comments About Ballet and Opera: 'Be Careful, Boy'

Bailey RichardsMon, March 9, 2026 at 8:49 PM UTC

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Whoopi Goldberg on 'The View' on March 9; Timothee ChalametCredit: ABC; Neil Mockford/FilmMagic -

Whoopi Goldberg weighed in on Timothée Chalamet's comments about ballet and opera, warning him to "be careful, boy"

“When you crap on somebody else's art form, it doesn't feel good," Goldberg said while addressing Chalamet's remarks with her The View co-hosts on March 9

Several other artists and institutions have also reacted to Chalamet's comments, including Doja Cat

Whoopi Goldberg is weighing in on Timothée Chalamet's controversial claim that “no one cares” about ballet and opera.

The Oscar winner, 70, reacted after the Marty Supreme actor, 30, got backlash for saying during a Variety and CNN town hall last month that he does not "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.' ”

Addressing the dismissive comments on The View on Monday, March 9, Goldberg said, “When you crap on somebody else's art form, it doesn't feel good. It doesn't feel good to see.”

Goldberg then acknowledged the fact that Chalamet immediately recognized that his comments, which he made to former costar Matthew McConaughey, could be seen as disparaging but still doubled down on them.

"I just lost 14 cents in viewership," Chalamet said with a laugh during the Feb. 24 event. "I just took shots for no reason."

Whoopi Goldberg in a 2025 episode of 'The View'Credit: ABC/JEFF NEIRA

Goldberg said, “And you probably didn't realize that until you said, ‘Oh, I’m in trouble,’ but then you compounded it and said, like, ‘14 cents.’ No, when people get mad, it'll be a lot more than 14 cents."

“So be careful,” she said, looking directly at The View camera. “I'm just saying. Be careful, boy.”

The star’s co-hosts also reacted during the Hot Topics segment, including Sunny Hostin, who said she was “offended and disappointed” by the actor’s words, particularly “as a member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem.”

“I didn't realize that he was that vapid and that shallow,” Hostin, 57, said of Chalamet.

Sara Haines, meanwhile, joked that this "seems like a family issue,” as the actor’s “grandmother, mother and sister all danced in the New York City Ballet.”

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“But I also feel like this is a good example of where people are so American culture-centric. Like, these are international art forms,” Haines said of Chalamet’s comments, speculating that he may have come “from a place of not knowing that.”

Guest co-host Sheryl Underwood also gave the actor the benefit of the doubt but did say she believes that if he had played a ballet dancer like Rudolf Nureyev in a movie rather than a ping-pong player, he “would respect the art form a little bit better.”

In the wake of Chalamet’s comments to McConaughey, several groups and performers have spoken out.

Grammy-winning opera singer Isabelle Leonard wrote, in part, on social media that she was "shocked that someone so seemingly successful can be so ineloquent and narrow-minded in his views about art.” Deepa Johnny, a Canadian opera singer, wrote that the actor’s comments were a “disappointing take.”

Doja Cat also called out the Oscar-nominated actor in a since-deleted TikTok for having “the nerve to say on camera that nobody cares about” opera and ballet.

“It doesn’t matter if the industry is having a tough time at any time — which, a lot of industries have a tough time. Your industry has a tough time, my industry has a tough time,” the musician, 30, said in the video, in part. “Doesn’t mean people don’t care about it. People care. The dancers care, the singers care, the audience cares. There’s still an audience.”

Timothee Chalamet in December 2025Credit: Dia Dipasupil/WireImage

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The Metropolitan Opera also responded to Chalamet’s comments on TikTok, sharing a montage of behind-the-scenes preparation for the opera with text that read, "All respect to the opera (and ballet) people out there."

The Royal Ballet and Opera in London also addressed Chalamet's comments in a statement on Instagram, writing, "Every night at the Royal Opera House, thousands of people gather for ballet and opera. For the music. For the storytelling. For the sheer magic of live performance.”

“If you’d like to reconsider, @tchalamet, our doors are open,” the statement concluded.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”