- Ariana DeBose went viral for an awkward rap she did during her opening number at the BAFTAs.
- The rap featured nonsensical lyrics like, "Angela Bassett did the thing."
A producer for the BAFTA awards is coming to Ariana Debose's defense after she received backlash online for an awkward opening number rap about women in Hollywood at the awards show Sunday night.
Nick Bullen, a producer of the 2023 BAFTAs and CEO of the British production company Gold Spun, told Variety he thinks the public's response to her performance "is incredibly unfair, to be frank."
The "West Side Story" star "put the whole piece together" with the help of a choreographer and a musical director, Bullen said. It was meant to celebrate the female nominees of the night he said.
Wearing bright pink, DeBose, who won a best supporting actress Oscar in 2022, was visibly and audibly out of breath at times while she wrapped puzzling lyrics like, "Angela Bassett did the thing, Viola Davis my 'Woman King,' Blanchett Cate you're a genius, Jamie Lee you are all of us."
—BAFTA (@BAFTA) February 19, 2023
"We wanted to open the show with some energy, some fun, and also lay out straight away that this was hopefully going to feel like a different night, but with a familiarity as well, and what Ariana did was exactly that," Bullen said.
He was backstage during the show and told Variety, "Everybody I've spoken to who was in the room absolutely loved it. She's a huge star, she was amazing." Bullen also said that people were "clapping" and "dancing to the music" during the performance, which also featured DeBose singing.
People online were less kind. "Ariana debose you're an oscar winner you don't have to do this i promise," someone wrote in a tweet that included a video of the performance.
— (@aramnotagoat) February 19, 2023
"Ariana debose always got my heart but that bafta performance actually making me ball up in a corner," someone else wrote.
—kadar (@kadarius_mp4) February 20, 2023
The actor also had some supporters who were sad that the BAFTAs performance might be what DeBose becomes most known for. "Everyone hating on ariana debose so what if that song was kinda bad you don't know her like I do she doesn't deserve this leave my baby alone," another Twitter user wrote.
—alex (@lenassoul) February 20, 2023
Bullen said the backlash from the performance might be because the public finds change hard.
"I think some people don't like that change, but you know what? You need to get with it because changes are coming," he said, adding that the aim of the BAFTAs this year was to reach a younger, more diverse audience and the people talking on social media.
DeBose appears to have deactivated her Twitter since the performance. Representatives for DeBose didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.