Ariana DeBose deactivates Twitter after being roasted over ‘painful’ BAFTAs rap

“Don’t have to do this”: Ariana DeBose has been absolutely roasted over her trainwreck rap performance during this year’s glitzy BAFTAs.

Ana de Armas’ face mirrored all of ours as Ariana DeBose rapped.

Actress and singer Ariana DeBose has deactivated her Twitter account after being roasted for her opening performance at the BAFTA Awards.

The 32-year-old – who was last year’s Best Supporting Actress winner for West Side Story – left the A-listers in the crowd looking visibly awkward as she delivered a rap about the female nominees during this year’s British Academy Film Awards event.

DeBose’s performance was … interesting.

After performing a rendition of the Eurythmics’ Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves and We Are Family, DeBose went on to namecheck the actresses, as the camera panned across their faces.

Tag yourself: I am Ana de Armas.

. and also Cate Blanchett.

“All the ladies in the room, supporting and leading all here I presume,” the Oscar-winner sang.

“Hong Chau; Dolly D; Kerry; and Carey with a C; Dame Emma, I’m so fond; Ana girl, you were great in Blonde; Danielle D, you broke my heart; Michelle, I’ve loved you from the start.

“Angela Bassett, did the thing. Viola Davis my Woman King. Blanchett, Cate, you’re a genius; Jamie Lee, you are all of us.”

Check it out for yourself:

no way this is real pic.twitter.com/wNf2yIer8z

— persian roman roy (@theronfilm) February 19, 2023

Afterwards, the performance went viral – but not for reasons DeBose would have hoped.

Ariana DeBose’s rap at BAFTA is simultaneously awful and amazing. Like, I can’t stop watching it.pic.twitter.com/lxjKrW5vTf

— Brian Rowe (@mrbrianrowe) February 20, 2023

ariana debose you’re an oscar winner you don’t have to do this i promise 😭 pic.twitter.com/0b4pjl3OTX

— 𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒎 (@aramnotagoat) February 19, 2023

the audience during Ariana DeBose’s Bafta performance pic.twitter.com/qJMpqcoFc2

— Louis Staples (@LouisStaples) February 20, 2023

To be fair to Ariana DeBose, I’ve never seen so many people in the US tweet about the BAFTAs pic.twitter.com/TPVe1Mgsm2

— Kareem Yasin (@thekareem) February 20, 2023

Look Ariana DeBose did the best she could with the material, but who the hell wrote that song? Because jail, immediately

— Kate Reinking (@katereinking) February 20, 2023

Who is responsible for making Ariana DeBose do this, I want them tried at The Hague pic.twitter.com/B2FHYZpskF

— Daniel (@tweetingdanielj) February 20, 2023

got a lot of time for the celebs who smiled charmingly and awkwardly during ariana debose's painful BAFTA rap pic.twitter.com/w1HywcoBOm

— Jessie Goetzinger (@southernsgothic) February 19, 2023

Following the backlash, a BAFTAs awards producer hit back, describing the pile-on of DeBose as “incredibly unfair”.

In an interview with Variety, Nick Bullen – who was backstage during the ceremony – explained that the actress had “put the whole piece together” with her team and didn’t deserve the criticism.

“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,” says Bullen.

“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. 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.”