‘I just wanted to make sure she was OK’: Angela Bassett contacted Ariana DeBose after viral Baftas rap

‘West Side Story’ star’s performance went viral – for good and bad reasons

Angela Bassett has revealed that she contacted Ariana DeBose after the singer name-dropped her in her viral Baftas rap.

West Side Story star DeBose, 32, opened the Baftas on Sunday 19 February with a rendition of Eurythmics’ 1985 hit track “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves”.

Halfway through the song, DeBose broke into a rap, giving shout-outs to the female nominees in the audience with lines like: “Angela Bassett did the thing. Viola Davis, my Woman King. Blanchett Cate, you’re a genius. Jamie Lee [Curtis], you are all of us.”

Speaking to Variety on the red carpet at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday (25 February), Black Panther: Wakanda Forever star Bassett, 64, said: “I DM’d her last night. I did. It was beautiful.

“I just wanted to make sure she was OK because, you know, it’s a lot of attention. And she is A-OK.”

People lost their minds over the performance on social media, with some mocking it and others expressing their love for it, and DeBose’s official Twitter account has been deactivated since the event.

DeBose did, however, acknowledge the situation with an Instagram post on Saturday morning, saying: “The internet is wild y’all! Appreciate all the love.”

Earlier this week, Baftas producer Nick Bullen called criticism of DeBose’s performance “incredibly unfair”, adding: “Everybody I’ve spoken to who was in the room absolutely loved it.”