Ariana DeBose baffles Bafta viewers with ‘painful’ opening rap: ‘Why did this happen?’

Ariana DeBose left Bafta viewers confused with her show opening rap on Sunday night.

The West Side Story star won best supporting actress for her role in Stephen Spielberg’s adaptation of the iconic musical, but hours after the event people on social media couldn’t stop talking about her live performance to kick off the evening.

During a rendition of Eurythmics hit Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves, Ariana ended up delivering a rap verse in which she namedropped all the women nominated for awards, including the likes of Viola Davis, Ana De Armas and Jamie Lee Curtis.

The cameras cut to the stars as they were mentioned, as most of them looked slightly bemused by the whole thing (although Jamie Lee was loving life).

Despite Ariana sporting a stunning skirt for the performance, which was pulled off by dancers as she strutted her stuff in a trouser suit, and showing her skills, viewers were utterly baffled by the rap.

‘This has unlocked a whole new level of cringe for me. Like I can’t. I need a day off to recover,’ wrote on viewer.

Ariana DeBose kicked off the show with a stunning routine (Picture: Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)

She was joined on stage by a group of dancers who pulled off her skirt (Picture: Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)

However, the West Side Story star left viewers baffled with her rap (Picture: Stuart Wilson/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)

‘Ariana is usually brilliant but this clip at least was pretty painful to watch. I’m sorry,’ added another fan, while a third person tweeted: ‘Got a lot of time for the celebs who smiled charmingly and awkwardly during Ariana DeBose’s painful Bafta rap.’

A fourth viewer said: ‘Ariana is a super talented artist (Hamilton, The Prom, West Side Story) but this was not a strong performance for her,’ and a different fan questioned: ‘P***ing myself laughing at Ariana DeBose’s BAFTA song, why did this happen?’

Ariana won best supporting actress on the night (Picture: Gareth Cattermole/BAFTA/Getty Images for BAFTA)

Not everyone criticised the actress for her performance, with some suggesting she did the best she could with what she was given.

‘Look Ariana DeBose did the best she could with the material, but who the hell wrote that song? Because jail, immediately,’ argued one viewer.

‘It wasn’t phenomenal but it’s not that bad either. Y’all just want to jump on the hate train,’ added another supporter, as a third fan said: ‘Ariana DeBose doing an absurd rap about the women up for things. She is, however such a pro (non more pro) so hardly matters.’

All Quiet on the Western Front was the big winner at the BAFTAs, with the German language war drama – which stars newcomer Felix Kammerer as an idealistic teenager who sings up to fight in World War I – winning seven prizes from 14 nominations.

The movie captured the best film award, having seen off competition from The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Tar and Elvis.

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Viewers were so confused.