Timothee Chalamet's Thoughts On His Kendrick Lamar Interview Spark Controversy

BY Zachary Horvath 1.8K Views
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Mar 2, 2025; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Timothée Chalamet on the red carpet at the 97th Oscars at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 2, 2025. Mandatory Credit: Kevork Djansezian via USA TODAY via Imagn Images Kendrick Lamar accepts Best Rap Album during the 60th Annual Grammy Awards at Madison Square Garden on Jan. 28, 2018. © Robert Deutsch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Timothee Chalamet hopped in Kendrick Lamar's Grand National for a chat ahead of his game-changing Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Days before Kendrick Lamar hit the Super Bowl stage earlier this year, him and Timothee Chalamet chatted about their creative processes. The insightful sit-down aired on February 7 and was a success overall. However, during an interview on Carmelo Anthony's 7PM in Brooklyn podcast, the Wonka lead ruffled some feathers while looking back on it.

The interview, which took place inside Lamar's Buick Grand National, of course took place amid the still active Drake beef. When asked about what he took away from their conversation, Chalamet praised his poise. "I was so impressed that this man was so calm sitting next to me and I was like, 'Wow he's engaged in a gladiator sport right now.'"

He continued, "As I was sitting next to him I was like, 'I could not do that.' I couldn't believe that you could be that big at war with somebody that big and go about your life."

However, what's turning some negative attention towards him is when he imagined that this could be his last interview. "My white a*s was like, 'Wow, he's in the middle of this beef' and like 'can you imagine if this is how I go out?'... That would be a crazy end to the Wikipedia."

Timothee Chalamet Kendrick Lamar Super Bowl Interview

Some are dubbing this comment as racist and tone deaf, with one X user writing, "lol that’s a racist comment, btw." Another adds, "Hey white folks beef and battle aren’t the same [laughing emoji face palming emoji]."

However, others believe he was making a fair statement given how some rap beefs have turned deadly, a la Tupac and Biggie. "Nothing wrong with what he said, there's so many examples of it and you are a fool to think otherwise. Disses turn into deadly altercations, history does repeat itself."

"People corny asf in the comments ya know what he means," another says in Chalamet's defense.

It's definitely an interesting to see the actor's thoughts create this much division but that is the internet after all.

Chalamet and Lamar's mobile chat aired on February 7 on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. They discussed how they keep thoughts and ideas flowing. Elsewhere, Timothee gave props to Lamar. "Just being a fan of your music forever and knowing like, look where you’re at now. It’s just crazy, Super Bowl halftime show. You just keep climbing, bro. It’s like amazing."

About The Author
Zachary Horvath is one of the Music Freelance News Writers at HotNewHipHop and has held that title since August 2023. Prior to this position, he held another freelance gig covering local high school football, girls and boys varsity basketball, in addition to recapping Cleveland Cavaliers games remotely. He's taken the previous experience and used it to become a jack of all trades at HotNewHipHop. Zach has thoroughly enjoyed tackling some of the trending topics in sports, with a larger focus on hip-hop and pop culture. Some of those include Bronny James's draft stock, a multitude of angles swirling around the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef, as well as Diddy's arrest and lawsuits. Separate from the headlines that everyone wants to hear about, he was fortunate enough to help spread Zaytoven's current thoughts at the time around mid-December in 2023. Even though being able to give his expertise on these stories is fulfilling, being able to share his passion for releases trumps that ever so slightly. Having the chance to express his excitement indirectly about what he thinks our readers should be checking out/revisiting grows his passion for writing that much more.

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