Ariana DeBose Embraces the Memes From Her BAFTA Rap: ‘The Internet Is Wild, Y’all’

“Angela Bassett did the thing” has become a viral sensation and was even quoted by Lizzo during a recent performance

It has been a week since Ariana DeBose unexpectedly created a new meme with her rap number at the BAFTA Awards, but the Oscar winner seems to have embraced the craze.

“The Internet is wild, y’all! Appreciate all the love,” DeBose wrote on Instagram with a series of photos and TikTok videos paying tribute to her performance. One moment in particular got fans online rolling when the actress, rattling off the names of multiple BAFTA nominated actresses, declared that “Angela Bassett did the thing.

The sassy namedrop of the Oscar-nominated “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” star led to some online mockery of DeBose, but it seems to be outweighed by plenty of shoutouts and parodies of the moment on social media. DeBose’s Instagram post included a picture of a flower arrangement sent to her by Wanda Sykes with a note saying “YOU did the thing,” and references to the Bassett line by Lizzo and Adele during their recent performances.

DeBose and Bassett may soon be connected by more than just a viral moment. A year after DeBose won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance as Anita in Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story,” Bassett is a favorite to win in the same category for her performance in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” as Ramonda, the mourning queen of Wakanda who must find a way to lead her people forward and console her grieving daughter Shuri after the death of her son, the Black Panther, T’Challa, played by the late Chadwick Boseman.

DeBose, who is expected to return to the Oscars next month as a presenter, was the first LGBTQ woman of color to receive an acting Oscar. She is set to appear in the Sony Marvel film “Kraven the Hunter” this October as the voodoo priestess Calypso and in the Disney animated film “Wish” as the studio’s newest princess heroine, Asha.

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