Andrea Bocelli responds to Timothée Chalamet's controversial comments on opera and ballet

Opera singer Andrea Bocelli has responded to Timothée Chalamet's controversial comments on opera and ballet.

"I believe we often tend to keep our distance from what we have not yet truly encountered," Bocelli told People Magazine. "Opera and ballet are art forms that have crossed centuries and continue to speak to the human heart, because they answer a deep need for beauty, truth, and emotion.

"They are not arts of the past, but living languages that can still move us, make us reflect, and bring different generations together.

"I would be happy to welcome him as a guest at one of my concerts. Sometimes it only takes a few minutes of hearing this music live to understand why, after centuries, it continues to be loved all over the world."

Chalamet hasn't responded to Bocelli's offer or spoken about his recent comments on ballet and opera.

Last month, during his and Matthew McConaughey's Variety & CNN Town Hall event, the actor criticised those art forms, saying that "no one cares" about them anymore.

"I don't want to be working in ballet or opera, or you know, things where it's like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive’, even though it's like, no one cares about this anymore," said the Oscar-nominated actor. "All respect to all the ballet and opera people out there."

Since making these comments, Chalamet has received an extreme amount of backlash, with many artists and the public taking to social media to criticise the actor.

Besides Bocelli, American actress Jamie Lee Curtis, American artists Franz Szony, Broadway dancer Zach McNally, Canadian Mezzo-soprano Deepa Johny, choreographer Martin Chaix, American ballet choreographer Kam Sounders, Doja Cat, and many more criticised Chalamet.

"Hey, by the way, opera is 400 years old, ballet is 500 years old," said Doja Cat in a since-deleted TikTok. "Somebody named Tim-oh-tay Cha-lam-et had the nerve - big guy, by the way - had the nerve to say, on camera, that nobody cares about it."

"I'm sure you can walk into an opera theatre right now, seats will be filled out, and nobody's saying a word as the performance is going because everybody has that much respect for it.

"People give a fuck. You show up in a nice outfit. You sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up. That's the usual etiquette around those things. Maybe learn something from that."

The English National Ballet and the Seattle Opera have also commented on the Marty Supreme actor's remarks, with the latter using the moment as a marketing opportunity, running a promotion for an upcoming performance of Carmen.

"All we have got to say is use promo code TIMOTHEE to save 14% off select seats for Carmen, through this weekend only," wrote The Seattle Opera on their Instagram. "Timmy, you're welcome to use it too."