Post & Delete: Ariana DeBose Deactivates Twitter Account Post BAFTA Awards Rap Performance Backlash — Producer Comes To Her Defense: ‘She’s A Star’

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Ariana DeBose has deactivated her Twitter account following an overwhelming wave of negative comments about her rap performance, which empowered women, during the BAFTA Awards.

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The Oscar-winning actress, known for her roles in musicals such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, delivered a heartfelt tribute performance honoring the women nominated for awards at the show this past Sunday. DeBose’s energetic opening number medley featured covers of Aretha Franklin and Eurythmics’ “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” and “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge. The 32-year-old North Carolina native also injected some Hamilton theater style into the act by performing a rap that incorporated the names of female nominees such as Cate Blanchett, Danielle Deadwyler, Michelle Yeoh and more. The rap portion of her number went viral almost immediately, as Twitter users tore apart her bars shouting out actresses Angela Bassett and Viola Davis.

“Angela Bassett did the thing / Viola Davis, my Woman King,” DeBose rapped. While her verses were inherently complimentary, they also appeared to be unintentionally volatile as countless tweets dragged DeBose for the disjointed delivery of the bars that several alluded Miranda penned himself. For perspective, a two-second clip of DeBose’s Bassett/Davis line has generated more than 2.3 million views on Twitter while the original performance video has attracted the eyes of well over 6 million.

Multiple users trolled the talent DeBose namedropped in her rap, speculating they didn’t want to be recognized in her performance in the first place.

Other remarks were also clearly hyperfocused on the Bassett/Davis line, while others appeared to welcome DeBose’s off-kilter performance for the celebration of women it represented, at face value.

In a recent interview, BAFTA Awards producer Nick Bullen has spoken out in support of DeBose’s performance, remarking on how “Unfair,” the criticism she has been receiving was.

“I think it’s incredibly unfair, to be frank,” Bullen said. “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.”

Bullen continued, further highlighting how powerful the bigger picture of DeBose’s performance was, considering how momentous of a year it has been for women in film.

“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,” Bullen said. “And 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.”

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Check out DeBose’s full performance below.

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