A popular Timothée Chalamet fan account has decided to take some space from the actor.
Coming off the Academy Awards, Mr. Chalamet didn’t just lose the Oscar for best actor. He also appeared to lose support from parts of his fervent fan base, most notably Simone Cromer, a Chalamet superfan and the person behind the popular social media account Club Chalamet, whose backing of the actor appeared to waver.
Ms. Cromer has supported Mr. Chalamet, 30, since 2018, when she was captivated by his performance as Elio in Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me by Your Name,” according to a profile of Ms. Cromer in The Wall Street Journal. She started the fan group on X that same year, and has since served as a de facto publicist for Mr. Chalamet, highlighting his work in lengthy posts on social media and analyzing his career choices in essays on Substack.
But in a post-Oscars essay, Ms. Cromer wrote that she needed “a break from the March madness of covering the Chalamet/Oscar quests,” stating that her “absolute best die-hard supporter efforts” had not offered personal fulfillment. She also recently announced that she was turning some of her attention to a different star: Connor Storrie of “Heated Rivalry.” Ms. Cromer did not respond to requests for an interview.
She is not alone in reassessing her level of commitment to Mr. Chalamet. A number of his fans have soured on him after his promotion of “Marty Supreme.” The press tour came off more like an album rollout, complete with fan meetups, merch pop-ups and even a performance by Mr. Chalamet on a remix of a song by the British rapper EsDeeKid. The actor’s recent fashion choices have also come under scrutiny. Representatives for Mr. Chalamet declined to comment.
“For a while, he had this soft-boy, artsy persona,” said Madison Fetzer, 24, a patient services representative based on Long Island. Mr. Chalamet’s style and performances in films, ranging from indies to blockbusters, had endeared him to her. She likened him to Harry Styles, who is often bold in his experimentation with fashion, and Role Model, whose earnest bedroom-pop hits and cheeky personality have made him popular with women.
But Ms. Fetzer said she felt as though the actor’s recent antics, including the “loud” promotion of “Marty Supreme” and his courtside appearances at Knicks games, were alienating parts of his fan base. “It all felt like a boys’ club,” she said.
Sammy Vaserstein, 22, a digital media strategist based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., however, said he was along for the ride and appreciated how Mr. Chalamet “exaggerated his ego” for the press tour.
“I was ready to watch the movie no matter what, but when I stepped into the theater and I watched his role, I’m like, Oh, it was more than just marketing; it was performance art,” he said. “It completely complemented the theater experience.”
Then, at a town hall hosted by CNN and Variety, Mr. Chalamet suggested that nobody cared about opera and ballet. “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,” he said. “All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership.”
Online, the backlash was swift, with some fans stating that his braggadocio act had gone too far. Steven Spielberg and Doja Cat also responded to the comments (though Doja Cat backtracked on her criticism). Conan O’Brien joked about Mr. Chalamet’s comments in his Oscars monologue, and Alexandre Singh, who won the Oscar, in a rare tie, for best live action short film, also referenced them in his speech.
“This was a good opportunity for people to just air out grievances,” said Kay Bell, 28, a fan of Mr. Chalamet’s and a publicist based in New York.
Ms. Cromer called Mr. Chalamet’s remarks “an unfortunate choice of words” in a post on Substack, and said people were taking them out of context in an effort to “destroy Timothée’s reputation.”
Not all of Mr. Chalamet’s fans are abandoning him. In fact, many are simply looking ahead to supporting the actor when he starts to promote “Dune: Part Three” later this year.
Others like Alayna Giovannitti, 38, a social media director based in Philadelphia, are taking this backlash as a cue to throw even more support behind the actor.
“I feel like I’m holding down the fort,” she said. “I just believe in him, and I think he’s great at his job. I like his honesty and ambition. I still think he seems like the same person he’s been as long as I’ve been a fan.”
Yola Mzizi is a reporter for the Styles section and a member of the 2025-2026 Times Fellowship class, a program for journalists early in their careers.
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