Ariana DeBose is not letting anyone rain on her parade! After facing heavy criticism and a bunch of trolling over her viral BAFTA performance which was labelled “awkward,” she is returning to the stage!
Yup, that’s right! the Oscar-winning West Side Story actress, 32, is set to host the 76th annual Tony Awards at the United Palace in New York City on Sunday, June 11. She hosted last year’s ceremony, when she interacted with the star-studded audience and at one point sat in Andrew Garfield’s lap while singing.
DeBose said in a press release, “I was honored to serve as host last year and even more so to be asked back. So looking forward to celebrating this incredible season and the people who make the work happen. Here’s to adding some uptown flavor to the magic of the Tony Awards.”
Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing, and Charlotte St. Martin, president of The Broadway League, also added in a statement, “A force both on and off the stage, Ariana DeBose is unstoppable — an award-winning actress, powerhouse vocalist and commanding dancer — she is the true definition of triple-threat. We are thrilled to welcome back one of Broadway’s brightest lights to dazzle, inspire and illuminate this year’s Tony Awards.”
The nominations for the Tony Awards, which honor theater professionals for distinguished achievement on Broadway, have been broadcast on CBS since 1978, will be announced Tuesday, May 2.
More On Ariana DeBose & Her Viral Moment
While we wait to see what she has in store this time around, she sent social media into a frenzy with her special little number.
As we previously reported, DeBose helped open the awards show with a brief rap interlude that celebrated the female nominees of the evening. In the days since, memes were generated from DeBose’s set, especially a moment where she performed a dance move while intoning, “Angela Bassett did the thing, Viola Davis, my ‘Woman King!'”
Following all the backlash and trolling, DeBose left Twitter. However, many people stood up for her including BAFTAs producer Nick Bullen who told Variety that the criticism her well-meaning performance has drawn is “incredibly unfair.”
Everybody I’ve spoken to who was in the room absolutely loved it,” Bullen said at the time, adding that “the room was clapping, and people were sort of dancing to the music.”
The producer also mentioned that the references to female nominees were included her musical performance “because it’s been a great year for women in film, and we wanted to celebrate that,” adding of DeBose, “here is a woman of color who is at the absolute top of her game. And she’s opening the BAFTAs with a song that said so much on so many levels.”
Despite that, Angela Bassett layer shouted out Ariana DeBose At NAACP Awards when she tooo home I Guess Angela Bassett Did The Thing!”