Bradley Whitford Defends Opera, Jabs Timothée Chalamet

has faced yet more criticism for his comments that 'no one cares' about ballet or opera', this time from The West Wing star Bradley Whitford.

The actor, 30, sparked backlash after making the controversial remarks in an unearthed town hall, where he said: '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".'

Bradley, 66, took a cheeky swipe at Timothee while attending the premiere of his new film Reminders Of Him.

The actor is best known for this role as Josh Lyman, Deputy Chief of Staff in The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.

Speaking during an interview on the red carpet, Bradley shared an impassioned defence of opera by declaring he's always been 'incredibly moved' by the format.

He then ended the chat by declaring: 'I'm not that into ping pong though,' in a nod to Timothee's character in Marty Supreme, who plays the sport.

Bradley told People: 'I know a lot of opera singers where I studied acting, and I always found it amazing.

'I would be incredibly moved by it, when I had no idea what they were saying.

'So both of them, I'm not that into ping pong though.'

Timothée's dig at opera and ballet came when he and Matthew were discussing the Hollywood figures who make public statements in support of movie theatres.

'I admire people, and I've done it myself, doing a talk show about how we've got to keep movie theatres alive, you know, we've got to keep this genre alive,' he said.

'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,' he added, noting opera and ballet do not have that mainstream audience.

When he then apologised for the 'shot' he had taken at the art form, Matthew defended the claim, assuring: 'That's not a shot, I hear what you're saying.'

However, the remark drew a withering response from London's Royal Ballet and Opera and New York City's Metropolitan Opera, with the latter retaliating by posting a montage of its employees hard at work.

Written over the top was the telling comment: 'All respect to the opera (and ballet) people out there,' while the caption left no doubt as to the target of its message, reading: 'This one's for you, Timothée Chalamet…'

To make matters worse, Timothée's 'own mother Nicole Flender and late grandmother Enid Flender were both professional dancers.

Enid - who died at the age of 95 in 2022 - danced in Broadway musicals Kiss Me, Kate at the Shubert Theatre from 1949-1951 and Make Mine Manhattan at the Broadhurst Theatre in 1949.

While Nicole, 68, studied at the School of American Ballet and eventually taught dance from 1990-2015.

The Marty Supreme star's fellow entertainers have also publicly hit out at him and voiced their support for opera and ballet.

Among them are actors Helen Hunt, Eva Mendes, Sarah Hyland, Holland Taylor, Laura Benanti, King Princess and Alexis Knap, as well as director Sam Taylor-Johnson, models Ashley Graham and Poppy Delevingne, and ballerina Misty Copeland.

And on Monday, EGOT winner Whoopi Goldberg branded him 'disrespectful', addressing him directly on The View, as she said: 'You come from a dance family - and so, when you c**p on somebody else's art form, it doesn't feel good.

'It doesn't feel good to see, and you probably didn't realize that until you said, "Oh, I'm in trouble."'

While Whoopi said Timothée 'compounded' his issues in joking that he would have lost a total of 14 cents after the chat, warning: 'When people get mad, it'll be a lot more than 14 cents - so be careful. I'm just saying, be careful, boy.'

Calling the actor 'a boy to me', she said that the A Complete Unknown shouldn't issue an apology, because it came off as inauthentic.

'Really, don't apologize when you've insulted. It doesn't sound right. You can't say, "Oh, this is dumb, no disrespect." That's absolute disrespect,' she fumed.

Rapper and singer Doja Cat, 30, went even further, as she posted a blistering online rant slamming Timothée and praising the opera and ballet industries as 'amazing'.

She said: 'By the way, opera is 400 years old and ballet is 500 years old. Somebody named Timothée Chalamet, had the nerve, big guy by the way, had the nerve, on camera that nobody cares about it.

'I'm pretty sure that if you went to an opera theatre right now, seats will be filled out and nobody saying a word as the performance is going on because everybody has that much respect for it.'

Drawing attention to the dedication of the dancers, the hitmaker added: 'They [dancers] show up, they break and they bleed, every single day, just because they have respect for it. They love it'.

And Oscar winner Jamie, 67, also appeared to clap back as she reposted Broadway thespian Zach McNally's Instagram clip about the scandal, where he asked: 'Why is Timothée Chalamet taking shots at opera and ballet?'

'Why are any artists taking shots at any other artist in the time [when] artificial intelligence threatens literally all art forms, except performing art like plays, ballets and operas and musicals.'

The Halloween actress then went on to re-post clips from prestigious companies like the Nationale Opera & Ballet in Amsterdam before showing a lot of support for Michael B. Jordan, who is up against Timothée in the Best Actor race at the Oscars this weekend.

Gold Derby is now predicting that the Sinners star, 39, has a 48.28 percent chance of winning the gong, while Timothée has slipped to 36.99 percent.

The boyfriend of Kylie Jenner was previously considered the frontrunner after winning best actor at the Critics' Choice Awards on January 4 and the Golden Globe Awards on January 11.

However, many of the 11,000 registered Academy members probably cast their ballot before voting officially closed last Thursday at 5pm PT, so it's unclear if his chances will be affected.