Unless you've been living under a rock, you've likely had the line "Angela Bassett did the thing" stuck in your head since last week's BAFTA Awards. After Ariana DeBose deactivated her Twitter over the ridicule she received for her eccentric rap, two women named in it have stood up for her through the run of awards shows this weekend.
Thing do-er Bassett owned the infamous line as she accepted the NAACP Image Award for Entertainer of the Year on Saturday (February 25), saying, "I guess Angela Bassett did the thing!" as her speech's opening remark.
Speaking about it later, Bassett said she was aiming to uplift DeBose with her speech: "In the beginning, it was looking one way," she said [via USA Today]. "But I said, 'Hold on, stay patient, it can turn.' And it has begun to turn to a positive, to be a beautiful moment. For both of us. And I am so glad because I loved it."
Also voicing her support of the performance is Jamie Lee Curtis: "Mommy can move," she said. "It was fun, I honestly have no idea what people were freaking out about online. If that's what people are freaking out about, they really have to examine themselves. It's ridiculous."
Coincidentally, "all of us" Curtis beat out Bassett for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor for her supporting role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. In her speech, she once again called herself a nepo baby: "I know you look at me and think 'Well, nepo baby, that's why she's there' — and I totally get it. But the truth of the matter is I'm 64 years old and this is just amazing!"
Watch both Bassett and Curtis nod to DeBose below.
Thing do-er Bassett owned the infamous line as she accepted the NAACP Image Award for Entertainer of the Year on Saturday (February 25), saying, "I guess Angela Bassett did the thing!" as her speech's opening remark.
Speaking about it later, Bassett said she was aiming to uplift DeBose with her speech: "In the beginning, it was looking one way," she said [via USA Today]. "But I said, 'Hold on, stay patient, it can turn.' And it has begun to turn to a positive, to be a beautiful moment. For both of us. And I am so glad because I loved it."
Also voicing her support of the performance is Jamie Lee Curtis: "Mommy can move," she said. "It was fun, I honestly have no idea what people were freaking out about online. If that's what people are freaking out about, they really have to examine themselves. It's ridiculous."
Coincidentally, "all of us" Curtis beat out Bassett for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor for her supporting role in Everything Everywhere All at Once. In her speech, she once again called herself a nepo baby: "I know you look at me and think 'Well, nepo baby, that's why she's there' — and I totally get it. But the truth of the matter is I'm 64 years old and this is just amazing!"
Watch both Bassett and Curtis nod to DeBose below.