Schadenfreude is defined as pleasure derived from someone else’s pain. There’s perhaps no better way of describing what is currently happening to the actor Timothée Chalamet, who despite being an early front-runner, and perhaps one of the most enthusiastic self-promoters we’ve seen for a while, went home empty-handed after Sunday evening’s Academy Awards after failing to win the Best Actor gong for his role in Marty Supreme.
The film, directed by Josh Safdie, had been nominated for four awards, and won none. Similarly, Emma Stone’s Bugonia also took home nothing. Yet it is Chalamet, and Chalamet alone, who has been the subject of endless mockery for his loss. A lip-reader has claimed he said “I hate this” to his girlfriend Kylie Jenner during the ceremony. It’s also been reported he left for an hour after being endlessly mocked by host Conan O’Brien. Jenner’s ex-boyfriend Travis Scott posted a mocking post on Instagram after his loss, but swiftly deleted it. Headlines on tabloids claimed Kris Jenner and the Kardashians were “humiliated”.
