Good Morning America host Lara Spencer ignited a storm of backlash on Thursday, Aug. 22 after she mocked Prince George for taking ballet lessons, bursting into laughter after revealing that the young royal’s upcoming school curriculum would include the discipline.
Spencer has since received criticism from numerous people, including Patricia Ward Kelly, the widow of the late dancer and actor Gene Kelly. Ward Kelly penned an open letter to Spencer describing the steps her husband had taken to end the stigma surrounding male dancers, comparing dancing and athleticism and calling Spencer’s actions “unacceptable and incomprehensible.”
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“In 1958, my late husband, the dancer, director, choreographer Gene Kelly, decided to take on the stigma facing male dancers in an Omnibus television program for NBC that he created and starred in called ‘Dancing, A Man’s Game,’” the letter began, via Deadline. “He hoped that by aligning the great sports stars of the day — Mickey Mantle, Johnny Unitas, Vic Seixas, Sugar Ray Robinson, among others — he could challenge and destroy the shame surrounding male dancers once and for all. For Gene it was more than a professional task. It was, in his words, a personal ‘crusade’ to show that dancers are athletes and that it is okay for a man to be graceful.”
“Sadly, on August 22, 2019, Good Morning America elected to run a disgraceful segment about Prince George and his ballet classes,” Ward Kelly continued. “That host Lara Spencer would mock a boy’s study of ballet in a nationally televised morning show and that her colleagues would join in her derision is both unacceptable and incomprehensible.”
“Gene would be devastated to know that 61 years after his ground-breaking work the issue of boys and men dancing is still the subject of ridicule — and on a national network,” she concluded. “ABC must do better.”
On Thursday, Spencer had been discussing George’s curriculum for the year, which she said would include math, science, history, religious studies, computer programming, poetry and ballet, the latter of which drew reactions from the audience, Spencer and her co-host George Stephanopoulos.
“Oh, he looks so happy about the ballet class,” Spencer said before noting that Prince William had said his son “absolutely loves ballet.”
“I have news for you, Prince William: We’ll see how long that lasts,” she said. “I mean, he might.”
After the episode, the host apologized for her remarks on social media, saying, “My sincere apologies for an insensitive comment I made in pop news yesterday. From ballet to anything one wants to explore in life, I say go for it. I fully believe we should all be free to pursue our passions. Go climb your mountain-and love every minute of it.”
Photo Credit: Getty / Noam Galai
