One of the standout moments at the Oscars came during the live performance celebrating Sinners. Legendary ballerina Misty Copeland appeared on stage for a powerful dance sequence tied to the film’s surreal montage celebrating dance traditions across the Black diaspora.

It was elegant, historic, and apparently, it had too much nuance for the New York Magazine. Because the paper tweeted this headline:

I’m sorry… what?

This Had Nothing to Do With Timothée Chalamet

Before we get into why that headline makes no sense, here’s the context. A few weeks before the Oscars, Timothée Chalamet sparked online backlash after comments he made in a television interview about classical art forms. While discussing the types of roles and artistic spaces he gravitates toward, Chalamet joked that he avoids “art forms no one cares about anymore,” referencing ballet and opera. The remark circulated widely online and drew criticism from people in the dance world, which is why some outlets tried to frame Misty Copeland’s Oscars appearance as a kind of response to him.

The moment from the film already features a ballerina as part of a montage exploring how music and dance can tie people to the past and the future.

In other words, Copeland’s appearance wasn’t some last-minute clapback at Chalamet. It was literally recreating a scene from the movie. And the performance itself was planned months in advance. The Oscars confirmed the lineup well before the ceremony. So framing it as a “jab” at Chalamet is… bizarre.

Instead of recognizing a performance celebrating Black artistic traditions, the headline reframed the entire moment around a completely unrelated celebrity feud.

Misty Copeland Didn’t Come Back for a Celebrity Clapback

Copeland’s appearance mattered because of who she is.

She became the first Black principal ballerina at the American Ballet Theatre, and her career has long been tied to expanding representation in classical dance. Seeing her step onto the Oscars stage for a sequence rooted in Black dance history felt meaningful. Reducing that moment to she came out of retirement to shade a white actor cheapens the entire thing.

And it completely misses the point of what Sinners was doing artistically.

Embed from Getty Images

The Real Story Was Black Art

Sinners wasn’t just another Oscar-nominated film. It broke records with its nominations and built an entire visual language around the history of Black cultural expression, including music and dance traditions across the diaspora.

That surreal montage scene, the one Copeland recreated on stage, is part of that story.

So framing the performance around Chalamet feels like the exact kind of media reflex people complain about: when something rooted in Black culture happens, somehow the narrative still ends up centering a white celebrity.

The Takeaway

No, Misty Copeland didn’t come out of retirement to dunk on Timothée Chalamet. She stepped onto that stage to honor the artistic legacy that Sinners celebrates, a film rooted in the music, movement and cultural traditions of the Black diaspora.

Turning that moment into a petty celebrity feud says far more about the headline writers than it does about the performance itself. And it reflects a broader pattern around Sinners. Earlier this month, a March 2026 New Yorker illustration of actress Wunmi Mosaku by João Fazenda drew criticism online for failing to capture her likeness and elegance, a striking contrast to the poised, commanding presence audiences saw in the film.

In both cases, the art was right there. Somehow, the coverage still managed to miss the point.

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