“Jeopardy!” Pokes Fun at Timothée Chalamet with 'Ballet and Opera' Category
“Jeopardy!” Pokes Fun at Timothée Chalamet with 'Ballet and Opera' Category
Liza EsquibiasWed, March 11, 2026 at 5:22 PM UTC
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Ken Jennings; Timothée ChalametCredit: Christopher Willard/Disney via Getty; Julie SEBADELHA/AFP via Getty -
On March 9, Jeopardy shared a clip on social media of contestants acing questions in a past “Ballet & Opera” category, directly calling out Timothée Chalamet
Chalamet sparked backlash after claiming "no one cares" about ballet and opera anymore
Fans praised Jeopardy!’s subtle shade, with many emphasizing the importance of the arts
Jeopardy! is subtly calling out Timothée Chalamet’s controversial claims that "no one cares" about ballet and opera.
Earlier this year, three contestants on the popular game show took on a “Ballet & Opera” category, where they correctly answered all five questions without hesitation. On Monday, March 9, Jeopardy shared the clip on their official social media accounts, directly calling out Chalamet, 30, in the caption.
“NOBODY @ HIM 👀 #Jeopardy! #timotheechalamet,” the playful caption read.
The comment section filled with fans reacting, with one writing on TikTok: “I love messy Jeopardy!” The show’s account replied, “We’re just showing love to the people in the arts.”
Another pointed out, “and notice how every clue was answered? because people DO care about ballet and opera and they care deeply.”
“Came for the game, stayed for the shade,” wrote someone else. On Instagram, a user quipped, “You know you did wrong when Jeopardy is throwing shade at you.”
Chalamet’s comments came during his Variety and CNN town hall with Matthew McConaughey on Feb. 24, where the two talked about the current trend of movies placing "their biggest action set pieces up front," referencing Matt Damon's recent similar comments.
"It does take you having to wave a flag of, 'Hey, this is a serious movie,' or something, and some people do want to be entertained and quickly," the Marty Supreme star said. "I'm really right in the middle, Matthew. I admire people, and I've done it myself, who go on a talk show and say, 'Hey, we've got to keep movie theaters alive, we've gotta keep this genre alive,' and another part of me feels like if people want to see it, like Barbie, like Oppenheimer, they're going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it."
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"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 continued. “All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there.”
He quickly recognized that his words could be seen as disparaging, noting with a laugh, "I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason."
Timothée ChalametCredit: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
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Chalamet faced massive backlash after the discussion aired, including from Grammy Award-winning opera singer Isabelle Leonard, who wrote in a comment on the video that she felt "shocked that someone so seemingly successful can be so ineloquent and narrow minded in his views about art while considering himself as artist as I would only imagine one would as an actor."
Deepa Johnny, a Canadian mezzo-soprano opera singer, said in her own comment, "what a disappointing take. There is nothing more impressive than the magic of live theatre, ballet and opera. We should be trying to uplift these art forms, these artists and come together across disciplines to do that. The impact of these mediums are long lasting and life changing."
A Brazilian ballet dancer named Victor Caixeta also responded to the video, saying that ballet and opera "have survived for centuries."
"Let’s see if your movies are still being watched in 300 years," he added.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
