While Timothée Chalamet and Kylie Jenner were all smiles and PDA before and after he won his Golden Globes best actor award for “Marty Supreme,” observers of the couple noticed some awkward — even tense — moments at the ceremony that suggest that the pressure of awards season might be getting to them.
Among other things, Chalamet walked the red carpet alone, while Jenner arrived later, according to the Daily Mail. His “Marty Supreme” co-star Odessa A’zion also appeared to snub his girlfriend when greeting him in the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton, the Daily Mail and Page Six also said. When Chalamet gave his acceptance speech, he also appeared to be a bit abrupt in closing his speech when acknowledging his parents and Jenner by saying, “To my parents and partner, I love you. Thank you so much.”
The Daily Mail said this reference to the reality TV star was far less effusive than how he thanked her at last week’s Critics Choice awards, when he garnered headlines by gushing about her when he accepted that organization’s best actor award. He almost moved Jenner to tears by boldly declaring: “Thank you to my partner of three years. Thank you for your foundation, I love you. I couldn’t do this without you.”
But on Sunday, it looked as though Chalamet and Jenner had to fight to maintain their smiles when they found each other in the ballroom before the ceremony and took their seats with other celebrity guests, according to the Daily Mail. The tabloid described “a seemingly fierce exchange” and brought in one of their lip-reading experts to interpret what the couple whispered to each other.
At the start of the exchange, Nicola Hickling said that Chalamet could be seen leaning in toward Jenner and telling her: “You must hate me.”
Still maintaining a smile, the cosmetics mogul replied, “Yes,” before the actor bent toward her ear and asked, “Were you worried?”
Jenner replied, “It was a bold yes.”
At this point, the Daily Mail said, Jenner’s smile began to falter, as Chalamet moved to take his seat and said, “You look bothered,” Hickling told the Daily Mail. Jenner quickly admonished Chalamet and said, “Not here. You’re annoying.”
The Daily Mail reported that Jenner and Chalamet did not return requests for comment. The couple were caught in another awkward moment later in the evening when a video went viral of A’zion approaching Chalamet in his seat, with Jenner next to him, Page Six said.
As A’zion bent down to give Chalamet an air kiss and side hug, Jenner leaned in and offered her cheek as though she expected to be next to get an air kiss. But A’zion pulled away and walked off, leaving Jenner appearing to be uncomfortable. But her discomfort was probably momentary as the two women were seen a bit later on, sitting next to each other. They appeared to be friendly and posed for photos together throughout the evening, especially when Chalamet’s name was announced as best actor for a musical or comedy.
Chalamet and Jenner are both media savvy enough to expect that their public interactions during the run-up to the Academy Awards on March 15 will be heavily scrutinized. Chalamet has been campaigning heavily to win the best actor trophy, while critics of Jenner and her Kardashian reality TV family believe that she could be “the kiss of death” for his Oscar chances.
On The Nerve podcast last month, Hollywood industry expert Rob Shuter said that Chalamet’s loss last year for his performance as Bob Dylan in 2024’s “A Complete Unknown” came as a shock. “Everybody thought he he was going to win (for “A Complete Unknown”). The studio thought he was going to win,” said Shuter, a former publicist, gossip columnist and editor of the American edition of “OK!” magazine who now publishes the Naughty But Nice Substack.
Shuter said that many attributed Chalamet’s loss to his high-profile romance with Jenner because people in the “snobby” Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences look down on her kind of reality TV stardom. “You might win a People’s Choice (award) if you date Kylie Jenner,” Shuter said.
The New York Times critics covering the ceremony acknowledged that Chalamet has run an impressive public-relations campaign to win best actor prizes for playing Marty Mauser in “Marty Supreme.” Mauser is an ambitious and charismatic tennis-table player in the 1950s who gets into mischief in New York City and abroad in order to win a world ping-pong championship. But the Times also said that, historically, the Academy has not handed out best-actor Oscars to actors as young as 30-year-old Chalamet. If Chalamet wins in March, he would be the second-youngest best actor winner ever, according to Gold Derby.
Then again, Chalamet’s Golden Globes win Sunday night, over his chief rival Leonardo DiCaprio for “One Battle After Another,” has catapulted the “Call Me By Your Name” star to the frontrunner spot in the Oscars race, according to Gold Derby. That status could be solidified if Chalamet picks up another prize from the SAG-AFTRA’s Actor Awards on March 1, showing that Jenner isn’t “the kiss of death” after all.