Timothée Chalamet has left people scratching their heads with an unexpected marketing move.
The actor is currently promoting Marty Supreme, a biopic about table tennis player Marty Reisman that also features Gwyneth Paltrow.
Over the weekend, he took to X to post an 18-minute video, which he cryptically captioned “video93884728.mp4.”
Highlights
- Timothée Chalamet posted an 18-minute Zoom call with his marketing team ahead of the premiere of ‘Marty Supreme.’
- During the meeting, the actor confidently pitched over-the-top ideas to promote the movie.
- Many online have criticized his antics in the video, calling the clip “confusing” and “painful to watch.”
Timothée Chalamet sparked conversation by posting a Zoom call with his marketing team
Image credits: Eric Charbonneau/A24 via Getty Images
The video shows him joining a Zoom call with a group of people who introduce themselves as the marketing team for the upcoming movie.
One by one, the creative team members introduce themselves and explain their roles, all while Timothée appears to show little to no interest.
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Then, dressed in a yellow tank top, Timothée begins to speak. He thanks the team for joining the call, saying it’s “very humbling” for him, and reminds everyone that he has been doing “amazing movie, after amazing movie, after amazing movie.”
He explains that the reason he wants to nail this movie is not so much for himself, but for director Josh Safdie. Timothée then starts naming Safdie’s recent successful films, bizarrely yelling “Shwep!” after each title.
The actor stars in Marty Supreme, a sports drama about table tennis player Marty Reisman
Image credits: RealChalamet
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The Oscar-nominated actor begins pitching questionable ideas to promote the film, including putting his photo on cereal boxes and using the color orange—the color of the table tennis balls in the movie—like pink was used in the marketing campaign for Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
“When you think Barbie, what do you think?” he asks the team. “I think pink. Everywhere I stepped, I would be inundated with pink.”
Timothée then shares his screen, revealing that his screensaver is a photo of himself, and shows the team mock-ups of world landmarks painted orange, including the Statue of Liberty and the Eiffel Tower.
During the meeting, Timothée pitches several far-fetched ideas to promote the film
Image credits: RealChalamet
“I looked this up, and it hasn’t been done before,” he says, as the team appears completely baffled. “It doesn’t have to be the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty. It could also be the Tower of London, the Taj Mahal.”
The 29-year-old also suggests dropping ping-pong balls on fans at Tyler, The Creator’s music festival Camp Flog Gnaw and using a giant orange blimp.
“Everywhere you go, Marty Supreme blimp,” Timothée proposes, though he clarifies that he doesn’t “want to personally get in” because he has “a fear of flying.”
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He concludes the meeting by asking the creative team to do a one-minute “meditation” and requesting that they sign NDA agreements so that they don’t leak his ideas.
Fans have taken to social media to express their confusion over Timothée’s antics in the PR video.
“It was painful to watch. I couldn’t even finish it,” one user admitted.
“I only lasted 3 minutes before I stopped it. I can’t stand the ‘macho’ persona that he has DESPERATELY been pushing for the last 2+ years,” another said.
Many viewers were confused by the video, calling it "cringe"
Image credits: A24
“Idk if these are antics or someone legit going into psychosis surrounded by a bunch of yes-men,” added someone else.
“I like my cringe to make me giggle in amusement, NOT stare in confusion,” shared an additional netizen.
Others, however, praised the marketing move, calling it “funny” and “clever.”
“Never seen a Timothée movie, but this was genius,” said another fan.
“I commend all of them for keeping a straight face. SHWEP!!!!” read a separate comment.
Marty Supreme premiered at the 2025 New York Film Festival on October 6 and will hit theaters on Christmas Day.
Marty Supreme, which also features Gwyneth Paltrow, hits theaters on December 25
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Even before the film was fully developed or greenlit, Josh Safdie approached Timothée about making a movie inspired by Marty Reisman. The Dune star began taking ping-pong lessons as early as 2018.
“Everything I was working on, it was this secret: I had a table in London while I was making Wonka. On Dune 2, I had a table in Budapest, Jordan. I had a table in Abu Dhabi. I had a table at the Cannes Film Festival for The French Dispatch,” the actor revealed.
“For me, it was putting in the 10,000 hours,” he said of his acting career. “It was dropping out of college. It was taking a risk. It was pursuing projects that were untraditional at first — at the time, it was kind of radical, the choices I was making when I was 20.”
Though he isn’t known for his comedy roles, Timothée has shown he has a great sense of humor. In addition to channeling Troye Sivan on Saturday Night Live, he has also made a surprise appearance at his own lookalike contest in New York City last year.
Earlier this year, he rocked up to the London premiere of A Complete Unknown on a Lime electric bike.
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