Moment Steven Spielberg avoids awkward run-in with Timothee Chalamet at Oscars after slamming his opera comments
It looks like Timothee Chalamet had quite the bruised ego at the 2026 Academy Awards.
Not only did he miss out on his chance to win his first Oscar, but he also went unnoticed by Steven Spielberg on the red carpet.
The 79-year-old director recently criticized 30-year-old Chalamet’s controversial comments about ballet and opera, and although the actor was hoping to mend fences with the director at the Oscars, he certainly lost the opportunity.
Video shot by Canadian entertainment program ETalk It shows the moment when Chalamet seemingly approaches Spielberg, lingering for a few seconds before the publicist escorts him away after the filmmaker fails to notice him.
The two were mere inches away from each other, but Spielberg had his back turned to the Oscar nominee and it’s unclear whether Chalamet was even aware of his presence.
Spielberg, who attended the show with his granddaughter Eve Gavigan, appeared more interested in greeting his colleagues and making his way down the red carpet.
Steven Spielberg avoided award race with Timothee Chalamet at the 2026 Oscars after criticizing the actor’s comments about opera and ballet
Chalamet was seen standing next to Spielberg for a few seconds before his publicist intervened
The Daily Mail has contacted Chalamet and Spielberg’s representatives but has yet to hear back.
Spielberg was one of many to respond to Chalamet’s recent comments that “nobody cares” about ballet and opera anymore.
The Oscar nominee made this unfiltered statement while talking to Matthew McConaughey about his hopes for the survival of movie theaters.
He later added in an interview with Variety’s Actors on Actors magazine: ‘I don’t want to work in ballet or opera or, you know, anything like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive,’ even though no one cares about that anymore.’
“With all due respect to the ballet and opera people,” added Chalamet, who is nominated for a best actor Oscar this Sunday for the ping-pong movie Marty Supreme. ‘I lost 14 cents on viewing, I took pictures for no reason.’
His comments sparked outrage from theatrical personalities ranging from ballerina Misty Copeland to stage and screen legend Nathan Lane.
Spielberg subtly countered Chalamet in an onstage interview at the South by Southwest film festival when discussing his own hopes for movie theaters.
‘But for me the real experience comes when we can persuade a community to gather in a strange, dark space where we are all strangers,’ he said.
Spielberg attended the ceremony with his granddaughter Eve Gavigan
Chalamet didn’t win his first Oscar, but he did manage to drown his sorrows in style with girlfriend Kylie Jenner at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party.
‘At the end of a truly good movie experience, we are all united by a multitude of emotions that we walk into daylight or night with. And there is no such thing. It happens in movies and concerts. “By the way, it also happens in ballet and opera,” he added. Diversity.
The audience applauded and laughed at Chalamet’s obvious dig; Spielberg smiled and said: ‘And we want this to continue. ‘We want this to last forever.’
Chalamet’s dig at opera and ballet came as he and McConaughey discussed Hollywood figures who have made public statements in support of movie theaters.
‘I admire people and I’ve done that myself, I did a talk show about how we should keep movie theaters alive, you know, we should keep this genre alive,’ he said.
“And part of me feels like if people want to see it, like Barbie, like Oppenheimer, they’re going to go see it and do their best to be loud and proud of it,” she added, noting that opera and ballet don’t have such mainstream audiences.
When McConaughey later apologized for his ‘shot’ at the artwork, he said: ‘It’s not a shot, I understand what you’re saying.’
