Angela Bassett DMed Ariana DeBose after BAFTAs rap ‘to make sure she was OK’

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Angela Bassett won Entertainer of the Year at the NAACP Image Awards and in her speech she made a joke that she “did the thing.” Just like the lyrics from Ariana DeBose’s much-panned opening rap from the BAFTAs. When Angela appeared on the red carpet for the Image Awards, she told Variety she reached out to Ariana after the BAFTAs to check on on her and make sure she was okay. That’s nice!

Angela Bassett has simply done the thing once again. After being name-dropped by Ariana DeBose in a rap that opened the BAFTA Film Awards, the “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” star tells Variety that she reached out to DeBose in the aftermath to check in on her.

“I DM’d her last night. I did. It was beautiful,” Bassett told Variety senior entertainment writer Angelique Jackson on the red carpet at the NAACP Image Awards on Saturday evening. “I just wanted to make sure she was okay because, you know, it’s a lot of attention. And she is A-Okay.”

Bassett’s mention was one of the catchier lyrics in DeBose’s opener. DeBose, who won last year’s BAFTA and Academy Award for best supporting actress for her performance in “West Side Story,” kicked off the British Academy Film Awards on Feb. 19 with a rap that name-dropped several of the evening’s nominees, including directors honored in debut feature and women competing in both the lead actress and supporting actress categories. The production also featured renditions of “Sisters Are Doin’ It for Themselves” and “We Are Family.”

The number took on a life of its own on social media in the following days, drawing both derisive commentary and perverse but full-hearted commendations, among a wide range of responses.

Bassett is nominated for the entertainer of the year award at the NAACP Image Awards. During a virtual ceremony earlier this week, she was honored with the body’s award for best supporting actress in a motion picture for her performance in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”

[From Variety]

It was really kind of Angela to reach out to Ariana and make sure she was okay after she got roasted for that BAFTAs number. I share Kaiser’s sentiment in feeling bad for Ariana that she got so much flack for a silly little thing. I guess Angela felt the same and it’s good that she checked on her because it was a lot of unnecessarily negative attention. Things just snowball on the internet. And Angela Bassett did do the thing so Ariana wasn’t technically wrong. Anyway, in addition to the joke, Angela’s acceptance speech was nice. She thanked Spike Lee, Malcolm X’s wife Betty Shabazz, John Singleton and Ryan Coogler for their impact on her career. And she wore a Greta Constantine dress. Angela always looks great — the color looked lovely on her and I liked the cut of the dress itself, but those sleeves look like giant scrunchies.