Ariana DeBose is a Broadway theater kid success story. She came up in musical theater, landing supporting roles in the original casts of Hamilton and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical (for which she earned a Tony nomination in 2018). Landing the role of Anita in Steven Spielberg’s 2021 remake of West Side Story was a golden opportunity to transfer from stage to screen, and it feels like Ariana is very aware of that. Since winning Best Supporting Actress in 2022 for WSS, Ariana has maintained her visibility. She routinely hosts the Tony Awards, she’s often asked to perform at the Kennedy Center Honors (most recently closing the show with disco-tacular singing and dancing), and she starred in her own Disney movie, Wish, last fall. She’s striking while the iron is hot, and I don’t blame her for it given how dismissive the industry can be for women in general, let alone for a Black, Latina, Queer woman. Plus, she undeniably has the goods. Which is why an attempt at a joke at the Critics Choice Awards didn’t sit well with Ariana, nor the internet:
As awards season continues, so do the controversial jokes.
At last night’s Critics Choice Awards, Ariana DeBose was left visibly unimpressed after being listed among a group of actors who apparently “think that they’re singers.”
While handing out the award for Best Original Song, presenters Bella Ramsey and Anthony Ramos highlighted all the nominated artists, naming Billie Eilish, Lenny Kravitz, and Dua Lipa as “some of the most famous voices in the music industry.”
Bella then read a subsequent joke that poked fun at “actors who also think that they’re singers,” listing off Ryan Gosling, Jack Black, and Ariana, who were nominated in the category, too.
In that moment, the cameras cut to show Ariana sitting in the audience, looking understandably confused by the mention before awkwardly laughing it off.
If you’re familiar with Ariana’s work, you’ll know she’s a widely acclaimed Broadway star, having performed in shows such as Bring It On, Motown: The Musical, Pippin, and even Hamilton, where she literally appeared alongside Anthony.
In 2018, she earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.
And on top of all that, it was only two years ago that she won an Oscar for her performance in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, in which — you guessed it — she sings. A lot.
So, with all this in mind, people were left pretty shocked by the implication that Ariana isn’t a real singer, prompting fans to share their disappointment on X.
“The disrespect to Academy Award winner, Tony nominee, Broadway star, Ariana DeBose is WILD,” one fan wrote, adding that “the look on her face really said it all.”
“This is so unfunny…like, Ariana DeBose is one of the few triple threats in the industry,” wrote another user who suggested that Bella could have “turned this joke down.”
Notably, others called out the award show’s writers, demanding to know who gave this joke the go-ahead in the first place.
“Ariana DeBose, Oscar award winning, Tony nominated, OG cast member of Hamilton on BROADWAY…’THINKS she’s a singer’?!? Who wrote this bit?! I want names,” someone else said in response to the clip.
And now, Ariana has responded to the controversy by confirming that she definitely wasn’t a fan of the joke.
Taking to her Instagram story soon after the ceremony ended, Ariana wrote: “No I didn’t find it funny. Lol.”
Neither Bella nor Anthony have addressed the backlash.
I’m sorry Bella Ramsey is getting caught in this mess. Yes, they technically could have said no to the writers, but Bella is young and relatively new on the scene, so I think it’s appropriate to give them a pass. Anthony Ramos, on the other hand… maybe not. The “joke” just isn’t funny. Even if we suspend belief and pretend for a minute that it was funny, it still doesn’t work when referring to these three actors in particular. Ariana is the most egregious example, since she has the strongest singing background. But even Ryan Gosling has La La Land on his resume, and Jack Black has been in his band Tenacious D since 1994. They’ve all sung for their supper before, and to great acclaim — we’re not talking Pierce Brosnan in Mamma Mia, here. Ariana had every right to sport that supremely miffed expression. She knows her worth. But I’m sure she’ll shake it off and move on. If she can survive having done the thing, she can survive this.
Ariana DeBose reacts to being included in “actors who think they are singers” bit at the Critics Choice Awards:
“No I didn’t find it funny. Lol.”
— Pop Base (@PopBase) January 15, 2024
photos credit: Avalon.red
