Ballet legend Misty Copeland set the 2026 Oscars red carpet alight, turning heads in a daring ensemble ahead of a potential showdown with Timothée Chalamet over his controversial ‘no one cares about ballet’ remark.
The 43-year-old is set to perform at the ceremony, while Chalamet will attend as a Best Actor nominee, setting the stage for what could be one of Hollywood’s most awkward moments.
Chalamet sparked furious backlash after making the remarks during a Variety/CNN Town Hall, saying: ‘I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera. Things where it’s like, “Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore.”‘
While he later tried to walk back his comments, Copeland insisted that Chalamet wouldn’t have the ‘opportunities he has as a movie star’ without ‘opera and ballet.’
On Sunday, Copeland turned up the glamour in a plunging suit jacket paired with a dramatic white skirt, ensuring all eyes were on her ahead of the potentially cringe-worthy encounter with Chalamet.
The dancer flaunted her décolletage with confidence, proving that Chalamet’s words couldn’t stop her from stealing the spotlight and enjoying the night.
Ballet legend Misty Copeland set the 2026 Oscars red carpet alight, turning heads in a daring ensemble ahead of a potential showdown with Timothée Chalamet over his controversial ‘no one cares about ballet’ remark
The 43-year-old is set to perform at the ceremony, while Chalamet will attend as a Best Actor nominee, setting the stage for what could be one of Hollywood’s most awkward moments
Earlier this week, Copeland announced her Oscars performance via social media, marking a triumphant return to the stage just weeks after revealing she had undergone hip replacement surgery late last year.
On 25 February, she shared that she had spent the past few months ‘healing – physically, mentally, and patiently.’
Around the same time as her performance announcement, Copeland took aim at Chalamet’s dismissive comments about opera and ballet, insisting that both art forms have an ‘enduring relevance in culture.’
The performer had previously promoted Chalamet’s film Marty Supreme last year, sharing a throwback picture of herself doing ballet as a child.
Speaking at an Aveeno panel in a clip shared on TikTok, she said: ‘First I have to say that it’s very interesting that he invited me to be a part of promoting Marty Supreme with respect to my art form.
‘But I think that it’s important that we acknowledge that, yes, this is an art form that is not “popular” and a part of pop culture as movies are. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have enduring relevance in culture.’
She continued: ‘I think it’s often mistaken when something is popular that it’s meaningful or more impactful. There’s a reason that the opera and ballet have been around for over 400 years.
‘I think when you have access and you have opportunity to be a part of something that can change your life, and that’s the work that I’ve done been doing with the Misty Copeland Foundation.’
Chalamet sparked furious backlash after making the remarks during a Variety/ CNN Town Hall, saying: ‘I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera. Things where it’s like, “Hey, keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore”‘; (pictured March 1)
On Sunday, Copeland turned up the glamour in a plunging suit jacket paired with a dramatic white skirt, ensuring all eyes were on her ahead of the potentially cringe-worthy encounter with Chalamet
She concluded: ‘That’s the work I’ve done my whole career, is to bring more people into it so that people do understand the importance and the relevance of it in our communities and our culture, and you see it reflected everywhere.
‘I mean, he wouldn’t be an actor and have the opportunities he has as a movie star if it weren’t for opera and ballet, and their relevance in that medium. All of these mediums have a space and we shouldn’t be comparing them.
Copeland is far from alone in her disappointment over Chalamet’s words, with opera fans, balletomanes, and even Hollywood icons such as Steven Spielberg expressing outrage at the star’s remarks.
Meanwhile, Conan O’Brien, 62, is returning to host the show for a second consecutive year after taking over the role from Jimmy Kimmel.
Ryan Coogler’s Sinners leads the pack with a record-breaking 16 nominations, the most for any film in Academy Awards history.
The horror flick is one of the ten films up for Best Picture alongside Bugonia, F1, Frankenstein, Hamnet, Marty Supreme, One Battle After Another, The Secret Agent, Sentimental Value and Train Dreams.
Sinners star Michael B. Jordan faces a stacked Best Actor category, competing against fellow nominees Timothee Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another), Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon), and Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent).
Set in 1930s Mississippi, Sinners follows twin brothers (both played by Jordan) who return to their hometown only to face a supernatural evil.
Misty shared that she will take to the stage alongside Sinners stars Miles Caton and Raphael Saadiq for a live performance of the film’s track I Lied to You on Sunday
The Best Actor race is currently a dead heat. While Chalamet dominated the early season with wins at the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Awards, the momentum shifted after Jordan won at the Actor Awards, formerly known as the SAG Awards.
Adding to the tension, the ceremony arrives on the heels of Chalamet’s controversial comments about how ‘no one cares’ about ballet or opera, which sparked a wave of backlash from the arts community.
Based on the life of professional ping-pong player Marty Reisman, Josh Safdie’s Marty Supreme stars Chalamet as a table tennis prodigy in 1950s New York whose ambition to become world champion jeopardizes his personal relationships.
Irish star Jessie Buckley is the frontrunner in the Best Actress category for her work in Hamnet. She faces a star-studded field including Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I would Kick You), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value), and Emma Stone (Bugonia).
Helmed by 2021’s Best Director winner Chloe Zhao, Hamnet dives into the reimagined story of William Shakespeare’s home life and how the death of his 11-year-old son provided the emotional blueprint for his masterpiece, Hamlet.
Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another earned 13 nominations.
Along with a Best Director nod, the film also nabbed a Best Actor mention for DiCaprio, and Supporting Actor nods for Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn.
The black comedy action-thriller follows a washed-up ex-revolutionary (DiCaprio) who is forced to come out from hiding to rescue his daughter, after she is targeted by his former nemesis, a corrupt military officer (Penn).
Irish star Jessie Buckley is the frontrunner in the Best Actress category for her work in Chloe Zhao’s Hamnet, which is also up for Best Picture
Yorgos Lanthimos’s Bugonia earned a Best Actress nod for Emma Stone
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein secured nine nominations. Leading the film’s acting honors is Jacob Elordi, who earned a Best Supporting Actor nod for his portrayal of the Creature
Aside from Penn and del Toro, the Best Supporting Actor category includes Jacob Elordi (Frankenstein), Delroy Lindo (Sinners) and Stellan Skarsgard (Sentimental Value).
Paul Mescal (Hamnet), Adam Sandler (Jay Kelly), and Jesse Plemons (Bugonia) were the most notable snubs from the category.
Frankenstein and Sentimental Value both earned nine nominations at this year’s ceremony.
Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein is a lavish reimagining of Mary Shelley’s classic, focusing on a heart-wrenching tale of a father’s rejection and a creature’s quest for love.
Meanwhile, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value follows two sisters forced to reconcile with their estranged filmmaker father.
Nominees for Best Supporting Actress include Elle Fanning (Sentimental Value), Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Sentimental Value), Amy Madigan (Weapons), Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners) and Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another).
There was a massive backlash after Ariana Grande was snubbed in the Supporting category for Wicked: For Good.
She had been nominated last year for her work in the first film of the musical franchise.
Conan O’Brien, 62, is returning to host the show for a second consecutive year after taking over the role from Jimmy Kimmel; Pictured in 2025
Wicked: For Good was completely shut out of nominations. This came despite an acclaimed leading performance by Cynthia Erivo, as well as new songs written for the film, including No Place Like Home and The Girl In The Bubble.
Gwyneth Paltrow was also left off the list in the category for her work in Marty Supreme.
There was a new award announced this year for Best Casting as the inaugural field includes: Nina Gold – Hamnet, Jennifer Venditti – Marty Supreme, Cassandra Kulukundis – One Battle After Another, Gabriel Domingues – The Secret Agent, and Francine Maisler – Sinners.
The ceremony kicks off at 7pm ET/ 4pm PT, airing live on ABC and streaming live on Hulu. It will also be streaming via Hulu + Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV and FuboTV.
