People are loving footage of Ariana DeBose rehearsing her BAFTAs rap backstage
She did the thing… in rehearsals, too.
Ariana DeBose has been trending all week after her show opening routine at the BAFTA film awards in London on Sunday night.
West Side Story star DeBose performed renditions of “Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves” and ”We Are Family”. It included an original rap penned by her and her team honoring the many female nominees of the night.
DeBose was a little breathless in places and the rap bemused many viewers at home with a few clunky lines (“Angela Bassett did the thing, Viola Davis, my woman king”). Within minutes, it was trending all over Twitter.
Related: In defense of Ariana Debose’s BAFTAs rap: “This is a camp cultural artifact”
In fact, DeBose soon deactivated her own Twitter account in the aftermath.
As the week has progressed, the routine has evolved to be seen as a camp classic. DeBose has even indicated she can see the funny side. Under an Instagram collection of memes of her posted by Evan Ross Katz, DeBose commented, “Honestly, I love this.”
Here’s hoping she won’t mind someone posting footage of her rehearsing the rap shortly before she went on.
@brauhala Backstage with #ArianaDebose, getting ready to do the thing at the BAFTAs. #bafta #baftas #angelabassett ♬ original sound – Benjamin Rauhala
Posted on TikTok, it has amassed over 600k views.
“So she planned to say Angela basset like that,” was one well-liked comment.
“She sat down with the President of Camp and said she wanted to make history. And that’s what this is,” suggested another.
The footage has also gone viral on Twitter.
Petition to have Ariana host the Oscars and do an opening number that features “Willard Smith did the slap”
of course I volunteer to write it
— Franchesca Ramsey (@chescaleigh) February 23, 2023
Should you have missed the original performance, here’s that rap again.
Sisters are doing it for themselves! The incredible @ArianaDeBose opens the 2023 #EEBAFTAs with an iconic performance!
pic.twitter.com/G9YgKN2e1t
— BAFTA (@BAFTA) February 19, 2023
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