Angela Bassettis getting in on the fun.
The actress, 64, took home the entertainer of the year award at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday, and while she was onstage to collect the trophy, she referenced a line part ofAriana DeBose’sviral rap from the 2023 BAFTA Awardsin her acceptance speech.
“I guess Angela Bassett did the thing,” joked theBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreveractress.
Elsewhere in her speech, Bassett thankedSpike Lee, John Singleton, Malcolm X’s wife Betty Shabazz and Ryan Coogler, and later shared that “gratitude is the universe’s way of saying we are not existing in this world alone,” according toDeadline.
Paul Morigi/Getty; Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty
The acceptance speech wasn’t Bassett’s only mention of DeBose’s performance either. The actress toldVarietyon theNAACP Image Awards red carpetthat she DM’d the actress, 32, shortly after her BAFTAs moment went viral.
“It was beautiful, it was beautiful, it was beautiful,” Bassett said. “I just wanted to make sure she was okay, you know? Because it’s a lot of attention.”
Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty
Ariana DeBose.Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty
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“Ithink it’s incredibly unfair, to be frank,” producer Nick Bullen toldVariety. “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.”
DeBose herself has since opened up about the response to her viral rap, telling Zoe Ball in a clip from herBBC Radio 2 Breakfast Showthis week that the performance was a “blast.”
“You know what, you might be one of the few,” DeBose said when Ball revealed she enjoyed the performance in a clip of the interview shared on TikTok Saturday. “I’ll take it, because you’re my people.”
Ball also called the performance a “woman singing and dancing, being magnificent celebrating women,” and, as DeBose revealed, that’s exactly what she “wanted to do.”
“Honestly, it’s not like I’m like, ‘Hey BAFTA, let me in!’ They actually called me, believe it or not,” DeBose said. “But that was the assignment. Like, ‘Come celebrate women,’ and I was like, ‘Absolutely!’ We did that and it was fun. Not gonna lie, I had a blast.”
“[It was] so awesome, and then I spent the rest of the night, you know, cutting a rug. Which, is that something you say here? Cutting a rug withEmma Thompson,” she continued, referring to dancing with the actress. “It was fabulous. I had a great time.”
After the host and the actress agreed that Thompson “had the moves” as a dancer herself, DeBose shared that she had fans in attendance, includingBaz Luhrmann. “He was like, ‘No, I think you’re great, that was fun. I had fun.’ And I was like, ‘work,’ " she said. “That’s a win, you guys. And apparently, gay Twitter seemed to like it? So that’s good, I’ll take it. I told you, my people.”
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Earlier this week, Broadway music directorBenjamin Rauhalashared a video on TikTok of DeBose as sherehearsed the now-viral opening numberwhile having makeup applied and her dress fitted beforehand.
“It was an honor to give love to all of these iconic women, and to get the party started! We are giggling at everyone who has our campy little number stuck in their heads,” Rauhala captioned the video.
“Thank you for the love, and the hilarious memes,” Rauhala added. “We had the BEST time putting this together for our friends at the BAFTAS. What a moment! She did the thing. 😎.”
source: people.com
