Ariana DeBose talks about her opening musical medley at the 2023 BAFTA Awards.
During an interview for BBC Radio 2 Zoe Ball breakfast showThe Oscar-winning singer and actress has spoken out for the first time since receiving backlash on social media after performing an original rap in honor of a female nominee at the awards ceremony in London on February 19. Did.
Host Zoe Ball delivered a high-energy medley of Eurythmics’ “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” and Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family,” along with name-checking rap numbers for famous actresses like Angela. We started the conversation praising DeBose’s performance on the mix. Bassett, Viola Davis, Jamie Lee Curtis.
“Look, you may be one of the few.” west side story The actress of the movie Reboot responded in a video interview shared on TikTok on Saturday (Feb. 25), “I’ll take it because you’re my people.”
A radio show host commented, “It was a woman singing and dancing and it was amazing and celebrating women on stage. Come on!” DeBose agreed, saying, “That’s what I wanted to do.” Did.
“Honestly, it’s not like, ‘Hey BAFTA, let me in!'” Believe it or not, I actually got a call,” the actress and singer continued. , it was a mandate, it was like, ‘Come congratulate the ladies,’ and I was like, ‘Absolutely! We did it and it was fun. Not gonna lie, I had a blast.
DeBose continues: Elvis Director Baz Luhrmann spotted her after the show and gave her positive feedback on her performance. She also added, “Gay Twitter seemed to like it, so that’s a good thing. Buy it.”
However, not all viewers enjoyed the musical medley. After the performance, DeBose faced an avalanche of sarcastic criticism and memes on social media, with the star deactivating his Twitter account.
After the show, BAFTA producer Nick Bullen came to DeBose’s defense. “Frankly, I think it’s incredibly unfair. I loved it,” Bren said. variety“Everyone in the room I spoke to loved it. She was a huge star and she was amazing.”
Another admirer of DeBose’s rap is Lizzo, who recreated the viral rap moment at a recent concert. DeBose caught wind of his TikTok video and reposted it on his Instagram page. “The internet is wild!” west side story star wrote. “Thank you for all the love.”
Check out some of DeBose’s BBC interviews on TikTok below.