Ariana DeBose received backlash on social media after her performance at the 2023 BAFTA Awards; nevertheless, a producer of the awards event stated that members of the crowd applauded her opening act on Sunday.
What happened during the performance?
When asked about the musical performance, the producer Nick Bullen stated, “To tell you the truth, I believe it to be quite unjust.” Variety was present throughout this conversation. In addition to singing “Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves” and “We Are Family,” the 32-year-old Oscar winner rapped about the evening’s female candidates. A troupe of dancers danced beside the Oscar winner while she did so.
He informed the magazine that the songs she was singing were very well-known, that the audience was applauding, and that some individuals were even dancing to the music. “That rap piece in the middle, naming the ladies in the room, was because we wanted to celebrate the fact that it’s been a tremendous year for women in cinema, and we wanted to acknowledge that fact,”
During the number, which followed the opening monologue delivered by the host, Richard E. Grant, DeBose rapped in part as follows: “Angela Bassett did the thing, Viola Davis my ‘Woman King,’ Blanchett Cate you’re a genius, Jamie Lee you are all of us.” At the same time, the camera panned to members of the audience, displaying a variety of expressions.
Bullen noted that the star of West Side Story “worked with a wonderful musical director and choreographer.” He also feels mixed emotions since “a lot of people don’t like change.”
According to Bullen, “there’s a notion that the BAFTAs have to be this little stiff, conventional British, middle-England messaging,” and he went on to say that “American award ceremonies have considerably more razzmatazz, much more entertainment, and potentially a larger spectrum of individuals being engaged.”
He said, “We had the feeling that what we were about was progress, not revolution. Let’s just develop. Let’s just go forward with some subtle modifications that will begin to set the stage for what this show ought to be and where we ought to be with it. Let’s just grow.”
Controversies
Even though DeBose has not responded to the backlash that followed Sunday’s awards show — and that her Twitter account appears to have been disabled – she did respond to online haters following her hosting role on Saturday Night Live a year ago.
The Hamilton actress reacted to a user who commented on DeBose’s opening monologue by stating, “You try hosting SNL, reading cue cards with little dyslexia, and then get back to me, brah.” The user was referring to DeBose unintentionally saying the wrong year during her opening monologue.
“The Instagram user added, “Maybe find someone who isn’t on level with Joe Biden at reading because that’s a qualification to acting… reading lines,” to which DeBose replied, “Nice. You’re a troll. Bye.”
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