Angela Bassett did the thing

During the ceremony of the 76th British Academy Film Awards on 19 February 2023, American actress Ariana DeBose performed a medley of songs celebrating the female nominees in that year's ceremony.

External video
video icon Ariana DeBose celebrates female nominees at the 76th British Academy Film Awards

Background
Ariana DeBose in 2020

The British Academy Film Awards are an annual film award show by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (commonly referred to as BAFTA). American actress Ariana DeBose had previously won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role during the 75th British Academy Film Awards ceremony in March 2022 for her role as Anita in the 2021 Steven Spielberg musical West Side Story. She was also nominated for the Rising Star Award.[1]

Angela Bassett in 2015

A large number of female actresses & crew were nominated for the 2023 ceremony, including Angela Bassett for her role in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Michelle Yeoh for Everything Everywhere All at Once and Charlotte Wells, director of Aftersun.[2] DeBose opened the ceremony with a performance celebrating women in film, covering "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" (by Eurythmics and Aretha Franklin) and "We Are Family" (by Sister Sledge) before segueing into a rap name-checking multiple female nominees.[3] Lines from the rap included "Angela Bassett did the thing, Viola Davis my Woman King / Blanchett, Cate, you're a genius, and Jamie Lee, you are all of us!".[4][5]

Following the event, DeBose deactivated her Twitter account but continued to react positively to references about the performance.[6] Show producer Nick Bullen said that criticism towards DeBose was "incredibly unfair", going on to say that she opened the show with "some energy [and] some fun".[5]

"Angela Bassett did the thing" was widely quoted by many as a stand-out quote from the rap. The true meaning of "the thing" is unknown, with BBC News saying the vagueness of the lyric contributed to its success, allowing it to be "endlessly adapted for any person and any situation".[4] American singer and rapper Lizzo quoted the line during a performance on the European leg of her Special Tour, as did Adele during her "Weekends with Adele" residency.[7][8]

Reception

The reception was mixed, with social media being largely responsible for the virality of the piece.

Many of those name-checked in the rap praised the performance. Angela Bassett mentioned the piece during an acceptance speech at the 54th NAACP Image Awards on February 25 2023, following her win of the Entertainer of the Year Award, jokingly saying "I guess Angela Bassett did the thing!"[9] Jamie Lee Curtis also defended the piece, saying it was a "joyous, celebratory, sisterly" performance.[10]

Stuart Heritage of The Guardian prefaced a lyric-by-lyric analysis of the performance by calling it "so gormless, so busy [&] so deeply and unsettlingly confusing".[11] Raven Smith of Vogue, however, praised the piece, calling it "hypnotic".[3]

References
  1. "BAFTA Awards 2022: See the full list of winners". CNN. March 13, 2022. Archived from the original on March 13, 2022. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
  2. "Nominations announced for the EE BAFTA Film Awards 2023" (Press release). British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 19 January 2023. Archived from the original on 19 January 2023. Retrieved 19 January 2023.
  3. Smith, Raven (2023-02-23). "Will Ariana DeBose's BAFTA Rap Ever Free Me From Its Spell?". British Vogue. Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  4. Bushby, Helen; Youngs, Ian; Savage, Mark (2023-02-27). "Angela Bassett and Ariana DeBose did the thing: Stars embrace a week of internet infamy". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  5. Ravindran, Manori (2023-02-20). "In Defense of Ariana DeBose's Rap: BAFTA Producer Slams Twitter Criticism as 'Incredibly Unfair,' Claims 'Everybody Loved It' (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Archived from the original on 2023-02-26. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  6. Margaritoff, Marco (2023-02-25). "Ariana DeBose Breaks Silence After Awkward BAFTAs Rap". HuffPost UK. Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  7. Robledo, Anthony. "Even Lizzo Agrees That "Angela Bassett Did The Thing"". BuzzFeed News. Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  8. Brisco, Elise. "Ariana DeBose reacts to viral response after that 'Angela Bassett did the thing' BAFTAs moment". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on 2023-02-25. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  9. Lindert, Hattie (2023-02-27). "Angela Bassett did the thing (shouted out Ariana DeBose in a speech)". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  10. @Deadline. "#PGAAwards Jamie Lee Curtis explains the mood inside the room at the BAFTAs during Ariana DeBose's rap: 'She's fantastic'" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  11. Heritage, Stuart (2023-02-20). "'Electric Malady? Marie, girl, what a slay': deconstructing Ariana DeBose's personalised Bafta rap". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-02-26. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
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