After spending the past several months engaged in an intense Oscar campaign for Marty Supreme — including claiming that his performance as pompous ping-pong player Marty Mauser was his best work to date — Timothée Chalamet ultimately lost Best Actor to Sinners star Michael B. Jordan during Sunday’s ceremony. 

Chalamet’s loss wasn’t a total upset, given Jordan’s win at the Actor Awards two weeks prior. However, it marked a surprising shift in momentum for the young actor, who was positioned as the Best Actor frontrunner early on in the awards season by awards pundits and entertainment outlets. 

So, what exactly went wrong? For the past few years, Chalamet has seen both critical and box-office success starring in films like Call Me by Your Name, Dune, and A Complete Unknown — two of which earned him his previous Best Actor nominations. With Marty Supreme, Chalamet’s eventual Best Actor win looked like a sure thing to both fans and entertainment journalists. However, following some incendiary remarks he made in a Variety and CNN Town Hall about opera and ballet leading up to the awards show and his eventual loss on Sunday, a big question remains: Did Chalamet sabotage what seemed like a clear path to victory?

It’s reasonable to think that Chalamet’s loss is a cautionary tale of an overly eager actor flying too close to the sun. However, as history shows, the 2026 Oscar might never have been Chalamet’s to begin with. 

From Best Actor frontrunner to Oscar villain 

Chalamet’s Best Actor chances were one of the biggest question marks going into this year’s ceremony. He had started strong, winning at the first of the season’s major awards shows: the Critics’ Choice Awards and the Golden Globes. However, he lost the BAFTA (the British equivalent of an Oscar) to Robert Aramayo (star of the British film I Swear), and Michael B. Jordan beat him at the Actor Awards (formerly the Screen Actors Guild Awards). Given that the latter are voted for by members of the film industry — overlapping with members of the Academy — Chalamet was less of a safe bet for the big prize at the Oscars.

Then, just two weeks before the Academy Awards, he made some controversial remarks about the arts. In conversation with his Interstellar co-star Matthew McConaughey, Chalamet said, “I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera, or, you know, things where it’s like, ‘Hey, keep this thing alive,’ even though it’s like no one cares about this anymore.” 

The comments went viral, and the backlash was swift. His remarks were denounced by the MET Opera, ballet icon Misty Copeland, and director Steven Spielberg, among others. His defenders argued that his statements weren’t technically wrong, even if they were a bit ungraceful. The kerfuffle even made it into Oscars host Conan O’Brien’s monologue, with the comedian joking that they had hired extra security to protect Chalamet from members of the opera and ballet communities. 

But, by this point, Chalamet’s public antics — specifically, the way he had chosen to market Marty Supreme — had already come under scrutiny. In a piece for Vulture, critic Craig Jenkins outlined Chalamet’s attempts to appeal to Black audiences and capitalize on his adjacency to Black culture throughout the film’s press tour, including collaborations with the internet comedian Druski and Minnesota Timberwolves player Anthony Edwards, who crowned him “White Boy of the Year.” He released a song with (white) British rapper EsKeeDee Kid and wore Timberlands to the Golden Globes. By the time Chalamet made his comments about ballet and opera, it felt like he had completely miscalculated his campaign and started getting on everyone’s nerves. 

But here’s the thing: Chalamet’s comments about opera and ballet took off on March 5, the same day that Oscar voting closed. So, while it’s possible his overexposure didn’t sit right with some Academy voters, it’s very likely that many had already submitted their ballots and that his loss had nothing to do with the controversy at all.

Timothée Chalamet’s Oscar win was never set in stone 

One thing that’s been missing from this conversation is the fact that the Academy has a storied reputation of making even the most promising and successful young actors wait for their turn on the big stage, especially when compared to their female counterparts. Chalamet winning an Oscar at the tender age of 30 was always going to be a long shot, even with his myriad accomplishments and the bold proclamation in front of his peers at last year’s SAG Awards that he wanted to “be one of the greats.”

Two-time Best Actor winner Adrien Brody is still the youngest actor to take home the prize at the age of 29, winning for The Pianist in 2003. Meanwhile, Marlee Matlin was the youngest Best Actress winner at 21 for Children of a Lesser God in 1987, and Jennifer Lawrence was the second youngest at 22 for Silver Linings Playbook in 2013. Anora star Mikey Madison just took home the Best Actress Oscar last year at age 25. Conventional wisdom would say this is rooted in the way that Hollywood idealizes youth in women, while allowing for and celebrating maturity in men. In an article for Vulture, journalist Nate Jones suggested that the older, male members of the Academy like seeing these younger, privileged men, with their “millions of dollars, beautiful women, [and] the full flush of youth” sweat it out a bit before claiming a trophy. 

Leonardo DiCaprio, who was Chalamet’s competition in the category this year, is one notable example of the Academy’s aversion to awarding young hunks. The star didn’t win Best Actor until he was 41 for the film The Revenant, despite racking up four acting nominations starting at the age of 19. Joaquin Phoenix won his first Oscar at 45. Brad Pitt didn’t win until he was 56. Jordan, last night’s winner, is 39. Several hot, young male actors, including Austin Butler, Paul Mescal, and Jacob Elordi, have all been nominated in recent years, and all of them have lost.  

So, it’s not a shock that Chalamet would ultimately be bested by someone nearly a decade older than he is. On top of giving a critically acclaimed performance tackling two different roles in Sinners, Jordan has established himself as the relatively young but accomplished industry veteran between the two, earning his first acting credit in 1999. He was a series regular in The Wire and gave critically acclaimed performances in 2013’s Fruitvale Station and 2018’s Black Panther (a Best Picture nominee). Specifically, his 12-year working partnership with Sinners director Ryan Coogler has helped cement Jordan as a box-office draw. He’s also established his bona fides as director, succeeding Coogler at the helm of the third Creed film. 

The fact that Chalamet seemed like the more likely winner is likely more the result of the visibility of his Oscars campaign than the two men’s respective statuses in Hollywood. 

It remains to be seen what Chalamet will do after taking such a highly publicized L. Will he go even harder in future Oscar campaigns, or dial it back a bit as he promotes films like Dune: Part III later this year? Maybe his Best Actor campaign will be perceived in a more flattering light the more he distances himself from it — and with a few more excellent performances under his belt. Either way, a future Chalamet win isn’t nearly as exciting as getting him to watch him recalibrate and continue playing the Oscars game. 

Navigating the world right now can feel like running into that aunt who comments on your weight at Thanksgiving every single day: When you open up Instagram, take public transit, watch TV, or scroll through TikTok, weight loss and diet discussion is nearly impossible to escape. 

Marketing for weight loss-related products has become incessant, with spending for ads increasing by 7 percent just last year, according to the research firm EDO. Public figures like Oprah, Serena Williams, Meghan Trainor, and Amy Schumer have talked openly about using GLP-1s to lose weight. Meanwhile, a staggering number of celebrities have appeared on red carpets looking noticeably thinner or completely unrecognizable. It’s not clear whether they’re all using GLP-1s, or even purposely losing weight. But this collective portrait of shrinking bodies sends a clear message to a lot of us: we should all be getting skinnier.

The directive is loud enough that a lot of people are wondering whether the optimism of the “body positivity” movement is over, and we’re returning to the oppressive beauty standards of the ’90s and early aughts. 

Still, experts say that society’s not totally doomed. If anything, the resounding backlash to the current moment makes it clear that most of us want to feel comfortable in our bodies, no matter what they look like.  

While weight discrimination and anti-fat bias is a cultural and systemic problem that requires systemic solutions, there are ways to tune out the “thin is in” noise and actively resist the idea that your life would be better if you lost some weight. If you’re feeling hopeless or overwhelmed by the constant weight loss chatter, here’s some advice. 

Understand that bodies are supposed to be different

Fitness and dieting advice is often based on the idea that we can all be thinner  if we simply try hard enough. When attempts to lose weight fail (or when no attempts are made), it’s seen as an issue of self-discipline and commitment. 

But that’s not how bodies work, according to Cheri Levinson, a professor in the department of psychological and brain sciences at the University of Louisville and the founder of the Louisville Center for Eating Disorders. She says the research field has started to thoroughly debunk the idea that weight-loss strategies and dieting work for everyone. For example, a study published in the British Medical Journal in 2020 looked at the effectiveness of 14 popular diet programs, such as Atkins and the Mediterranean diet, for overweight adults over the course of a year. While participants lost weight in the first six months, their weight loss had diminished at their 12-month follow-up.

“Body size is genetic,” Levinson says. “It’s not something that you’re able to change very much. It’s more unhealthy to try to change your body to something it shouldn’t be.” 

“The metaphor that I always use when I’m giving talks is that I’ll show a picture of a bunch of different babies,” Levinson continues. “None of the babies are the same size, and nobody would expect them to be. That doesn’t change when you become an adult.” 

The myth that everyone can lose weight and keep it off long-term if they just try hard enough feeds into another harmful belief: that smaller bodies are automatically healthier.

“Thinness does not equal health,” said Lauren Muhlheim, a therapist and the owner of Eating Disorder Therapy LA. “And there are many ways to improve health without focusing on weight loss. In fact, weight loss can drive eating disorders, which can be quite serious, even in people in bigger bodies.”

Surround yourself with people who feel good about their bodies

Our social environments play a huge role in how we view ourselves. For example, maybe you have a friend who brings up their daily carb intake whenever you go out to dinner, or casually uses fatphobic language when talking about other people. You don’t have to necessarily toss these people to the side, but Muhlheim says you should try to find companions who aren’t consumed by negative body image, or who are at least on the same journey of caring a lot less. 

“It’s really important to find fat-positive communities as a buffer against the cultural anti-fatness,” Muhlheim says. “As a provider in weight-inclusive communities, I get to spend lots of time with like-minded people who have worked hard to challenge weight stigma. I can attest that it makes a big difference.” 

If no friends immediately come to mind, you could try seeking out size-inclusive forums online, like the subreddit r/PlusSize or IRL communities and clubs, like New York City Plus. There are also workout classes that specifically bill themselves as welcoming to people with all body types, like Yoga for Everyone or Everybody Los Angeles. 

Curate your algorithm 

You should also do what you can to make your social media feeds inclusive and free of diet talk. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook are packed with messaging that can take a toll on your self-esteem. TikTok is its own unique hellscape with users — many of whom are not medical professionals — sharing unsolicited weight loss advice and negative opinions about their own bodies. 

Spend some time unfollowing people or accounts who make you feel bad about yourself, and follow people whose bodies look like yours or who don’t engage in weight loss talk. For example, Levinson says she follows fat activists and people in the fitness communities with larger bodies. You can also block certain hashtags on Instagram, so you might want to add #fitness, #bodygoals, and #weightloss to that list. Both TikTok and Instagram also have “not interested” functions to hide certain content on your feed. (On TikTok, the option is available after hitting the “Share” button. And on Instagram, you can find it by tapping the three dots in the top right corner when you’re looking at an ad or suggested content. 

Levinson also thinks people should avoid engaging in social media discourse about body image and weight loss and have these discussions face to face instead. 

“You should be having actual one-on-one conversations with your neighbors in person,” Levinson says. “You’re at least starting to talk and maybe show them another side of things. The problem is we get into these divided, good-and-bad arguments, and that doesn’t do any of us any good toward getting to actual solutions.”

Get involved in the fight for a size-inclusive world 

Resisting current beauty standards and feeling comfortable in your body can feel like a personal battle. But it’s not something you feel like we should be fighting alone — or solely for your own well-being.

Fat activist Virgie Tovar, who wrote the book You Have the Right to Remain Fat, says that weight discrimination happens in every facet of life, including medicine, employment, fashion, and media representation. Like any other form of discrimination, it’s something we should all be mobilizing around. Tovar says the best way to be an advocate for equality in this realm is to start in your personal environments. 

“Activism is more sustainable when it’s built around your life,” Tovar tells Vox. “Where do you have influence and can make changes?” Are you an employee or patient at a doctor’s office, where you can introduce concepts like body neutrality or health at every size? 

“Do you work in PR, where you can help adapt language and campaign imagery to be more size-inclusive?” Tovar says. “Are you a parent, who can potentially impact how fatphobic bullying is handled at your kid’s school? Do you work in HR, where you can bring in a trainer on weight stigma?”  

You could also look into volunteer or advocacy opportunities within eating organizations like F.E.A.S.T. (Families Empowered and Supporting Treatment of Eating Disorders), Project HEAL, and the National Alliance for Eating Disorders.

Remember that beauty standards are cyclical 

Maybe the most important thing to remember when reflecting on our Ozempic-obsessed moment is that some people will always attempt to tell others — mainly women — what their bodies should look like, and these pressures are often tied to a larger social agenda. Naomi Wolf’s seminal 1990 book The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women posits that, historically, the more gains women made politically, “the heavier the ideals of beauty would bear down upon them, mostly in order to distract their energy and undermine their progress.”

Through that lens, it’s not surprising that under our current political conditions — with a president who routinely insults women’s appearances and an administration that promotes “traditional” gender roles — people’s bodies are being policed anew, and brands and individuals are taking advantage of this culture shift. 

“It’s often when society is pushing back against progress that systems try even harder to control people,” says Levinson. “And obviously weight is a way to control women.”

Still, the fact that people are aware of how far we’ve fallen from the heyday of body-inclusive ads, plus-sized influencers, and a general moratorium on diet and weight loss talk should serve as a reminder that a better world is possible. 

“I still think progress is still being made,” she says. “The fact that people are on Twitter talking about how they want the body positivity movement to come back is, in itself, a sign that it’s probably not doomed.” 

If it feels like your algorithm is being hijacked by tiny, silver fish, you’re not just seeing things; sardines are experiencing a cultural moment right now. From influencers showing off snack plates and skin care tips to fitness experts raving about its high protein content, the internet can’t stop extolling the benefits of the formerly slept-on, salty snack. 

It’s a bit like millennials experiencing “bacon-mania” in the 2010s or Gen Z’s more recent obsession with olives and pickles. The hype around sardines has gotten so big that some store owners are hiking up prices, citing increased demand and steep tariffs. Longtime sardine consumers have taken to social media to complain about the budget-friendly meal becoming more expensive and naming one culprit, in particular. “Sardines and canned fish in general being randomly expensive now — we hate you, TikTok,” wrote one X user last week. 

The current cultural obsession with sardines isn’t being driven by memes or even insatiable cravings. It’s all about health, beauty, and the Gen Z concept of “-maxxing,” the internet-slang suffix for optimizing a specific area of one’s life. It’s the appropriately affordable snack for an increasingly unaffordable era that has led young people to invest in their self-improvement when they can’t monetarily invest in much else. 

Watching social media brag about their sardine consumption feels a bit uncanny. Many of us have gone our entire lives passing up sardines at the supermarket for more mainstream seafood, whether that’s canned tuna or something more luxurious, like smoked salmon. If you were raised on sardines, it wasn’t exactly the type of meal you would show off during lunchtime. Maybe its most accurate moniker is a struggle food, an involuntary grocery pick for those on a tight budget. That was the case for influencer Ally Renee when she began incorporating them into her diet. 

“I always watched my dad eating them growing up,” Renee said. “But I actually got into them by force, because they were like the cheapest thing I could afford in LA.”

Now, she’s become a big proponent of sardines on her page, describing it as “skincare in a can” in one of her latest videos. She says she genuinely enjoys the taste of them, but the fact that they’re filled with Omega 3’s and high in protein is a “win-win.” 

“I notice my skin is more bouncy and the texture is a little better,” she said. “When I’m trying to tone up my body, it’s such a good source of protein.” 

With 28 grams of protein per serving (around the same amount as a lot of pricey protein bars), sardines factor into the current obsession with protein intake and strength training. As a source of omega-3 fatty acids, they may help to reduce inflammation — one of the most-fretted-about medical conditions online — and boost collagen. You’ll also see sardines touted online as a way of “looksmaxxing,” “skinmaxxing,” “omega-3-maxxing,” and so on. The objective when eating them is never just to have a good meal, but to be improving your health and appearance at the same time while making the most out of every penny spent. 

Kim Severson, a food culture reporter for the New York Times, sees a few other things contributing to the current sardine takeover, including high-end chefs incorporating sardines in their menus and the recent rise in tourism to Portugal, “the land of tinned fish.” She added that we’re also witnessing the “snack-ification of America,” where snack plates, girl dinners, and meals entirely made of side dishes have become a popular mode of serving food — and saving money.  

“Affordability is a big part of it,” Severson said. “You can eat well with these little snack bites for less.”

The desire to eat well for less has driven a lot of food trends on social media since the pandemic, as people were forced to come up with creative dining options at home and on a budget. A few years ago, the rise of the girl dinner, which is essentially a homemade Lunchable, revolutionized the way many young people thought about healthy, affordable, and aesthetically pleasing food preparation. Self-proclaimed “snack plate girls” even started dedicating their pages to these protein medleys. Grocery prices continued to rise, and the snack plate came into fashion as more people embraced low-effort charcuterie boards. So, it felt appropriate, at the end of last year, when sardines became the centerpiece of many of these viral dishes. TikTok quickly became enamored with the aesthetic of a tin of oven-baked sardines surrounded by tomatoes, pickles, and hard-boiled eggs.  

Severson says these sardine snack plates satisfy a “culinary itch” that consumers may not be able to scratch by spending money at fancy restaurants. But it’s just one of the ways sardines have become integral to aspirational living on a budget. 

What was once a resource for famished soldiers during both world wars and foreign-born workers in the early 20th century has gotten a surprisingly glamorous makeover, thanks to its place in young people’s skin care regimes and sophisticated meals. There are even more expensive brands, like Fishwife, which sell “premium” sardines in artful tins with preserved ingredients that have helped boost the image of sardines as luxury. 

However, the largely utilitarian function of sardines has seemed to remain intact. While you’ll find influencers raving about sardines’ briny taste, they’ve become more of a holy grail for wellness junkies and health nuts than something simply meant to be enjoyed. It shouldn’t be so surprising that a highly nutritious but affordable food is speaking to young people from a generation that’s hyper-focused on self-improvement and optimization in lieu of abundant job opportunities and wrestling with an economically uncertain future. 

Maybe most glaringly, the current sardine obsession falls into a well-documented trend of Gen Z giving the cheapest items value. If they can turn affordable knickknacks into status symbols, why not make a $2 can of sardines the ultimate wellness secret?