Timothee Chalamet, Steven Spielberg almost came face to face at Oscars after director slammed actor
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Timothee Chalamet and Steven Spielberg almost had a run-in at the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 15, after the director called out the actor for his “ballet and opera” comment.
A video shared by eTalk TV on Instagram showed the two very close to each other on the red carpet at the awards ceremony.
Timothee Chalamet and Steven Spielberg come close to each other on Oscars 2026 red carpet
The footage first showed Spielberg meeting people with his granddaughter Eve Gavigan before it focused on the 'Call Me By Your Name' actor being ushered inside while nearly brushing shoulders with the 79-year-old.
Chalamet had received a nomination for Best Actor for ‘Marty Supreme’ but he lost the award to Michael B Jordan for his dual role in ‘Sinners’.
Chalamet walked the red carpet solo, but was joined by his partner, Kylie Jenner, inside the ceremony.
Timothee Chalamet had said 'no one cares' about ballet or opera anymore
Meanwhile, regarding the Chalamet and Spielberg controversy, the ‘Wonka’ star had said during a during a filmed Variety and CNN town hall at the University of Texas at Austin that he does not “want to be working in ballet or opera, or you know, things where it's like, 'Hey, keep this thing alive,' even though it's like, no one cares about this anymore.”
“All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership. I just took shots for no reason,” the 30-year-old added. The Oscars marked his first major public appearance after the controversial comments.
Steven Spielberg slammed Timothee Chalamet saying we want ballet and opera 'to be sustained'
Spielberg was among the prominent voices who condemned Chalamet for the comments.
He, during a panel at the 2026 SXSW Conference and Festival on Friday, said, “At the end of a really good movie experience, we are all united with a whole bunch of feelings that we walk into the daylight with, or into the nighttime with. And there’s nothing like that. It happens in movies, and in concerts.”
“And it happens in ballet and opera, by the way. We want that to be sustained. We want that to go forever,” the ‘Jurassic Park’ director asserted.
