THE BAFTAS kicked off its annual ceremony with Ariana DeBose as the night's host.
The West Side Story star performed a rap where she shouted out nominees such as Angela Bassett and Jamie Lee Curtis.
What is Ariana DeBose's BAFTAs rap?
In honor of the 2023 BAFTA leading and supporting actress nominees, host Ariana DeBose broke out into song and dance.
During her rap performance, Ariana name-checked the following stars:
- Hong Chau
- Dolly de Leon
- Carey Mulligan
- Kerry Condon
- Emma Thompson
- Ana de Armas
- Danielle Deadwyler
- Michelle Yeoh
- Angela Bassett
- Viola Davis
- Cate Blanchett
- Jamie Lee Curtis
She went on to rap the lyrics: "All of the ladies in the room, supporting and leading all here I presume...
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"Hong Chau, Dolly D, Kerry, and Carey with a C...Dame Emma, I'm so fond...
"Ana girl, you were great in Blonde! Danielle D, you broke my heart...Michelle, I've loved you from the start...
"Angela Bassett did the thing, Viola Davis my Woman King...
"Blanchett, Cate, you're a genius, and Jamie Lee, you are all of us!"
As the camera panned to capture each actress' reaction, the audience reception was mixed.
How did viewers respond?
BAFTA viewers were quick to respond to Ariana's rap with their own takes.
On Twitter, one user said: "Ariana DeBose knows what camp is. It's awful and hilarious and I can't stop watching it."
A second user tweeted: "Ariana Debose’s performance was hilarious yet but ppl gotta lay off her my gurl was Spielberg’s Anita and may none of you forget that."
"I’m sorry but the ariana debose video is hilarious…Angela Bassett," commented another.
As the reactions continued to pour in, one fan said: "literally couldn’t fall asleep last night with 'angela bassett did the thing' playing in my head over and over and over and over."
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Another fan said: "That video of ‘Angela Bassett did the thing, Viola Davis, my woman king’ is SENDING ME."
While some people observed the comical nature of Ariana's song, others also noticed the reaction of the nominees.
"Not Cate, Michelle, and Jamie Lee pretending to be into it to be nice," one viewer tweeted with several laughing emojis.
Another viewer quipped: "The best part of that Ariana Debose baftas disaster was deff everyone’s nervous smiles and then boom cut to Jamie Lee Curtis just bopping her little head…HILARIOUS."
"Ana de Armas looking bored was also a highlight," commented a third user.
When did Ariana delete her Twitter?
Two days after the BAFTAs telecast, netizens noticed Ariana deactivated her Twitter account.
In defense of The Prom actress and her viral show moment, the ceremony's producer Nick Bullen told Variety: "I think it’s incredibly unfair, to be frank. I absolutely loved it.
"Everybody I’ve spoken to who was in the room absolutely loved it. She’s a huge star, she was amazing.
"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.
"I think a lot of people don’t like change, and there’s a view that the BAFTAs have to be this slightly stiff, traditional British, middle-England messaging."
He added: "We don’t want to just go for the traditional British award ceremony audience.
"The social media presence was incredibly important to us.
"The messaging to younger people was important to us. The messaging to the diverse groups around Britain was important to us.
"We wanted to get the message out there that this is a show for everybody and I think some people don’t like that change."
