Jamie Lee Curtis gives expletive defence of Ariana DeBose's meme-worthy BAFTA rap

Jamie Lee Curtis has leapt to the defence of Ariana DeBose and her now-infamous BAFTA's rap, telling critics to "shut the f*** up."

Debose went viral after her iconic all-singing, all-dancing routine where she paid tribute to the different women nominated for awards in a 45-second rap, delivering us with the meme-worthy line: "Angela Bassett did the thing."

The song received mixed reactions with some criticising DeBose's out-of-breath performance and noting the crowd weren't into it, while others loved the performance, describing it as camp.

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And clearly, Jamie Lee Curtis was a fan as she could be seen bopping her head to the song as she received a line of her own in the rap (being nominated for Best Supporting Actress for Everything Everywhere All at Once, after all) - "Jamie Lee you are all of us," DeBose said.

Now Curtis has come to DeBose's defence after hearing the backlash (with some swear words here and there).

“I am unclear as to what the f*** people are on about, and for me, it was joyous, celebratory, sisterly, hot, spicy, and she’s just so incredibly talented," Curtis told Deadlineon the PGA Awards red carpet.

She then explained how nobody in the audience knew what DeBose was going to do in her performance, hence the variety of reactions that the rap received on the night.

“I don’t know what, the only thing I know is that it was shocking to me, you know, it’s in a theater, it’s not a taping, it’s not at tables, and so you’re in a theater.

“And so If you’re looking this way and there’s the stage, and you’re watching her on stage these camera people literally... came...[motions hands in front of reporter’s face] they would be here, and you know they’re there, and you’re like, ‘Why is this camera person this close to me?’"

“None of us knew what she was doing, so when they cut to us, I was into it, but by the time it got to me, I was into the music, and I was having a great time.

She concluded: "She is a fantastic talent; these people should shut the f*** up, back the f*** off and let this woman just shine her light because she is fantastic."

Meanwhile, Angela Bassett gave her response to the "did the thing," line at the 54th NAACP Image Awards and did not disappoint.

She took home three awards, including the biggest award of the evening, Entertainer of the Year, and during her acceptance speech Bassett had a full-circle moment with the meme by declaring: "I guess Angela Bassett did the thing!"

The actor also revealed she had been in contact with DeBose, who had deactivated Twitter after her performance.

"I DM’d her last night. I did. It was beautiful," Angela told Variety.

“I just wanted to make sure she was okay because, you know, it’s a lot of attention. And she is A-Okay.”

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