Ariana DeBose’s opening rap song for the BAFTA Awards has drawn criticism on social media, according to producer Nick Bullen.
The producer defended the “West Side Story” star and insisted that the number she and her crew orchestrated was a success in an interview with Variety on Monday. DeBose had collaborated extensively with a musical director and choreographer to “bring the whole piece together,” according to Bullen.
The 32-year-old actress grabbed the stage after host Richard E. Grant finished his opening monologue and sang “Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves” and “We Are Family” before starting an original rap that highlighted the ceremony’s female contenders.
Later, DeBose received criticism for the performance online, with Twitter users describing the lyrics as “cringy” and “painful” to see.
DeBose sang, appearing to be out of breath occasionally, “Angela Bassett did the job, Viola Davis my ‘Woman King,’ Blanchett Cate you’re a genius, Jamie Lee you are all of us.”
“I think it’s incredibly unfair, to be frank. I absolutely loved it,” Bullen said. “Everybody I’ve spoken to who was in the room absolutely loved it. She’s a huge star, she was amazing. The songs she was singing are very familiar songs, the room was clapping, and people were sort of dancing to the music.”
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The rap segment, according to the awards show producer, was created to “celebrate” the “great year 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. 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.” he continued.
Bullen stated that the number “spoke to what we intended to do” and that he had no regrets about it.
The television producer claimed that DeBose’s performance was in line with the BAFTAs’ new mission to provide greater energy, diversity, and scope.
He continued, “We wanted to open the show with some energy, some fun, and also lay out straight away that this was hopefully going to feel like a different night, but with a familiarity as well, and what Ariana did was exactly that,”
“I think a lot of people don’t like change, and there’s a view that the BAFTAs have to be this slightly stiff, traditional British, middle-England messaging,” he said. “But American awards shows have much more razzmatazz, much more showbiz, and perhaps a broader range of people being involved. We felt we’re not about revolution, we’re about evolution.”
