The head of the Royal Ballet and Opera (RBO) has thanked Hollywood star Timothée Chalamet for boosting the London institution's ticket sales following the actor's controversial remarks about the art forms.
Alex Beard told The Times that Chalamet's statement earlier this year pronouncing that "no-one cares" about ballet or opera anymore had produced a "fantastic" public reaction.
"I thought it important that we didn't issue a kind of hoity-toity response to Chalamet," Beard said.
"We simply said 'Take a look at what we're doing, mate' - for instance, the fact that the largest portion of our audience by age is 20 to 30-year-olds.
"And you know what? Our post got two-and-a-half million engagements and half a million shares, just on Instagram. And our ticket sales got an immediate boost. So cheers, Timmy!"
