Angela Bassett and Ariana DeBose did the thing: Stars embrace a week of internet infamy

Angela Bassett accepting entertainer of the year at the NAACP Image Awards: "I guess Angela Bassett did the thing!"

Black Panther star Angela Bassett got a rapturous reception when she declared that she "did the thing" at the NAACP Image Awards - bringing a bizarre viral moment to its inevitable, glorious conclusion.

It all began a week ago (was it really only a week ago?) when fellow US actress Ariana DeBose namechecked Bassett while honouring female nominees in a rap at the Bafta Awards.

"Angela Bassett did the thing, Viola Davis my Woman King / Blanchett, Cate, you're a genius, and Jamie Lee, you are all of us!"

DeBose's song split opinion. Critics called it cringeworthy. The Angela Bassett lyric and its accompanying shoulder-shimmy were singled out as particularly excruciating.

DeBose deleted her Twitter account amid the backlash. Then came the backlash to the backlash.

Fans defended the line as charming, fun and kitsch; and a host of famous faces rallied to around DeBose, including Adele, Lizzo, Jamie Lee Curtis - and Bassett herself.

That all propelled the performance, and the phrase, to instant iconic status.

Ariana DeBose doing her thing at the Bafta Awards

What was "the thing"? Who did she do it with? And how often?

It was presumably meant as a reference to Bassett's powerful performance as Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

But the lyric is so vague as to be appealingly random, and social media has delighted in the fact it can be endlessly adapted for any person and any situation.

'History in real time'

Vogue magazine's Raven Smith wrote last week that he had fallen under the hypnotic spell of the original footage.

"I can't physically stop rewatching," he wrote. "I've passed through initial shock and intrigue, I'm over the hump of enjoyment, and I'm into morbid fascination, rubbernecking the awkward audience responses, dissecting the intricate hand-ography."

He added: "We should each of us count ourselves lucky that we have lived through the most iconic and haunting rendition of Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves segueing into a rap serenading female Bafta nominees of all time.

"I feel like we witnessed history in real time. This is our Waterloo."

'Unsettlingly confusing'

The Guardian's Stuart Heritage was less impressed by the performance, declaring it "gormless", "deeply and unsettlingly confusing" and "one of the all-time great berserk musical performances ever seen".

But he did agree about its lasting impact. "In years to come, oral histories will be written about Angela Bassett Did the Thing," he said. "Movies will be made about it."

As the week went on, the stature of "the thing" grew and grew, quickly mutating into the internet's latest, and best, meme.

By the weekend, a remix of the rap had made it to the dancefloor of a gay nightclub in London's Limehouse.

DeBose, by now embracing the reaction, also reposted videos of Adele and Lizzo referencing her catchphrase at their concerts.

Adele told her crowd in Las Vegas: "I certainly don't have anything to catch you up on with my week... But we did learn that Angela Bassett did the thing, didn't we?

"I love her though, I love Ariana."

DeBose responded: "The internet is wild y'all! Appreciate all the love."

Then, on Saturday night, Bassett elicited huge cheers by repeating the line at the NAACP Awards.

"I guess Angela Bassett did the thing!" she declared, with accompanying shoulder wiggle, while accepting the trophy for entertainer of the year.

One tweet of the clip has now had 1.7 million views. The accompanying post reads: "'Angela Bassett did the thing' finally comes full circle! Angela is hilarious!"

On the same night, Bassett also picked up the awards for best supporting actress in a film for her role in the Black Panther sequel, and best actress in a drama series for TV's 9-1-1.

"Diego, do the thing," Ariana DeBose instructed co-presenter Diego Luna at the SAG Awards

The following day, DeBose referenced the viral moment when she presented a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award alongside Star Wars actor Diego Luna.

"Diego, do the thing," DeBose said, again to applause, inviting to Luna to introduce the list of nominees.

In an interview on Monday, BBC Radio 2 DJ Zoe Ball told DeBose her listeners had loved her Bafta performance.

DeBose was on Zoe Ball's BBC Radio 2 show on Monday

"You know what, you might be one of the few," the Oscar-winning actress replied. "But I'll take it because you're my people."

She continued: "Honestly, it's not like I was like, 'Hey Bafta let me in.' They actually called me, believe it or not.

"That was the assignment - come celebrate women. And I was like, 'Absolutely.' And we did that and it was fun. Not gonna lie. I had a blast."

She added: "And apparently gay Twitter seem to like it. So that's good."

Bassett herself gave the routine her seal of approval on the red carpet on Saturday, telling Variety she had messaged DeBose to check up on her after all the fallout.

"I DM'd her last night," she said. "It [the performance] was beautiful. I just wanted to make sure she was OK because, you know, it's a lot of attention. And she is A-OK."

Jamie Lee Curtis, who according to DeBose's rap is "all of us", gave the star's detractors short shrift.

She told Deadline at the SAG Awards that DeBose was "a fantastic talent", and told her critics in no uncertain terms to "shut the [expletive] up" and "back the [expletive] off".

Curtis declared: "For me it was joyous, celebratory, sisterly, hot, spicy, and she's just so incredibly talented."