Timothée Chalamet threw shade at the Academy Awards while celebrating the New York Knicks' historic NBA championship victory on Saturday night, making clear where his priorities lie after a difficult awards season.
The 30-year-old "Dune" and "Wonka" star was courtside at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio for Game 5 of the NBA Finals, where the Knicks defeated the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 to secure their first championship in 53 years. The victory sent shockwaves through the basketball world and brought together a who's who of Hollywood celebrities in Texas to witness the historic moment.
"Way rather this than the Oscars," Chalamet said in a video obtained by ESPN, capturing the actor on the court taking photos of the celebrating Knicks players on his phone. "C'mon, baby! Knicks are champions, baby!" he added, his excitement palpable as confetti rained down around him.
Chalamet, who attended the game without his girlfriend Kylie Jenner, was a prominent fixture throughout the 2026 NBA playoffs, following the Knicks at every stage of their championship run. After the final buzzer, he joined the team in their post-game locker room champagne shower and held up a copy of The New York Post bearing the headline "CHAMPS!" alongside Knicks forward Mikal Bridges.
The actor's jab at the Oscars comes just three months after he lost the Best Actor award to Michael B. Jordan, who took the trophy home for his role in "Sinners." Chalamet had been widely considered a frontrunner for the award and the loss stung particularly hard after an intense and highly publicized awards season campaign.
According to a Hollywood awards expert who spoke with Page Six, Chalamet's loss may have been due to what some described as an "arrogant" attitude that "fumbled the ball on the five-yard line." Sources claimed that Chalamet's quest for greatness and his determination to create what he called "top-level" work rubbed some Academy voters the wrong way during the voting period.
The actor had previously made remarks suggesting he did not want to be "working in ballet or opera where it's like, 'Hey! Keep this thing alive, even though no one cares about this anymore'" — comments that drew criticism from several artists, including retired ballet star Misty Copeland, who chastised Chalamet for comparing his craft unfavorably to other art forms.
Despite the awards season disappointment, Chalamet appeared fully immersed in the joy of the Knicks' championship moment, celebrating wildly alongside fellow celebrities including Spike Lee, Ben Stiller, Prince Harry, and Sydney Sweeney, all of whom were in attendance for the historic Game 5 victory that ended the longest championship drought in NBA history.
Sources: Page Six
