Steven Spielberg has become the latest, and perhaps most devastating, voice to speak out against Timothée Chalamet’s comments on ballet and opera, providing a stark reminder at SXSW that the art forms still matter.
Speaking on a panel titled The Big Picture With Steven Spielberg at the SXSW 2026 conference and festival on Friday, March 13, the legendary filmmaker, 79, was discussing the power of shared cultural experiences when he made his decision.
After talking about the unique feeling of leaving a cinema after a great film, he extended this thought to concerts, then, to the applause of the crowd, he added: “And this happens in ballet and opera.”
He then stated bluntly that these experiments deserve to be protected. “We want this to last. We want this to last forever.”
He did not name Chalamet.
The 30-year-old actor had sparked a wave of industry criticism after a filmed meeting with Matthew McConaughey at the University of Texas at Austin on Feb. 24, where he said he had no interest in working in art forms where the talk was essentially about keeping something alive that “nobody cares about anymore.”
He seemed to gauge the potential fallout almost immediately, adding hasty coverage: “All respect to all the ballet and opera people. I just lost 14 cents of audience. I just took pictures for no reason.”
The self-deprecating attempt at damage control didn’t really work.
The reaction that followed was swift and came from across the industry. Ballet stars Misty Copeland and Tiler Peck responded, as did opera singers Andrea Bocelli and Isabelle Leonard.
The Metropolitan Opera itself had its say.
Whoopi Goldberg, Nathan Lane, Jamie Lee Curtis, Karla Sofía Gascón, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Charlie Puth were among the many others who made their feelings known.
Spielberg’s contribution was characteristically low-key, no lecture, no direct appeal, just a quiet, authoritative reaffirmation of what most in the industry already believe.
Coming from one of cinema’s greatest living filmmakers, at one of the most important festivals in the entertainment world, it still landed.
