Ariana DeBose has cause quite a commotion on social media last week. If you haven’t caught wind of what the internet has been up to, here’s what you missed out on.
At this year’s BAFTA Awards, Ariana DeBose opened up the show with a musical number about women. Midway through the performance, DeBose began a rap break that highlighted individual women in movies over the past year. In the rap, she says “Angela Bassett did the thing. Viola Davis, my woman king!” Social media took that bit of the performance and ran with it.
As social media users had a ball with their memes and tweets, it seemed as though the decorated actress, did not. Amidst the mockery, DeBose deactivated her Twitter account.
BAFTA producer Nick Bullen even came to her defense. He said that the comments made towards the actress have been “incredibly unfair”, and that the performance should be recognized as one celebrating “a woman of color who is at the absolute top of her game”.
DeBose finally emerged from her absence on Saturday to speak on the ridicule in an interview with Zoe Ball on BBC Radio 2’s The Breakfast Show. She said “Honestly, it’s not like I was like, ‘Hey BAFTA, let me in!’” She continued by explaining what the show producers wanted. “That was the assignment — like, ‘Come celebrate women.’ And I was like, ‘Absolutely!’ And we did that, and it was fun. Not going to lie — I had a blast.”
Angela Basset Reaches Out To Ariana DeBose
At the 2023 NAACP Image Awards red carpet, the Black Panther star informed Variety Magazine that she messaged the actress to check in on her. “I DM’d her last night. I did. It was beautiful,” Bassett said. “I just wanted to make sure she was okay because, you know, it’s a lot of attention. And she is A-Okay.”
She then proceeded to joke about that viral line on air later that night. “I guess Angela Bassett did the thing!” she pronounced while accepting the trophy for entertainer of the year.
Ariana DeBose even poked her own fun at the meme the following night at the SAG Awards. The actress was one of the presenters for the Outstanding Performance by a Female Director in a Drama Series award. While on stage, she took the opportunity to mention the rap with her co-presenter, Diego Luna. “Diego, do the thing,” she said to him with a coy look. The crowd instantly burst out into laughter.
Even Angela Bassett herself couldn’t help but to laugh. The star smiled before blowing DeBose a kiss from the audience.