Ariana DeBose quits Twitter after backlash over BAFTA Awards rap
'West Side Story' star Ariana DeBose deactivates her Twitter account following backlash over her viral 2023 BAFTA Awards rap.
Ariana DeBose has deactivated her Twitter account after backlash over her 2023 BAFTA Awards performance.
The 'West Side Story' star kicked off the ceremony on Sunday (19.02.23) night with a medley of 'Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves' and 'We Are Family', which included an original rap highlighted the female nominees.
At one point, she rapped: "Angela Bassett did the thing, Viola Davis my ‘Woman King,’ Blanchett Cate you’re a genius, Jamie Lee you are all of us."
Now, she is no longer on Twitter after she was attacked over the routine.
However, a BAFTA producer has come to her defence and branded the criticism "incredibly unfair".
In a statement to Variety, Nick Bullen said: "The songs she was singing are very familiar songs, the room was clapping, and people were sort of dancing to the music.
"That rap section in the middle, mentioning the women in the room, was because it's been a great year for women in film, and we wanted to celebrate that."
He insisted a lot of the backlash is because "a lot of people don't like change", while he added that DeBose "worked with a great musical director and choreographer" on the performance.
Bullen added: "There's a view that the BAFTAs have to be this slightly stiff, traditional British, middle-England messaging."
He pointed to the way "American awards shows have much more razzmatazz, much more showbiz and perhaps a broader range of people being involved".
He explained: "We felt we're not about revolution, we're about evolution. Let's just evolve, let's just move forward with some gentle changes that start to lay out the stall of what this show should be and where we should be with it."
Although she has deactivated her Twitter account, DeBose is yet to publicly address her performance.
