GMA’s Lara Spencer apologizes for mocking Prince George’s ballet classes

When Prince George first started attending Thomas’ Battersea big-kid school, we learned about his general curriculum, which in addition to the normal kid stuff, also included computer coding and ballet. The argument I made at the time was that I felt sorry for the poor teachers trying to herd dozens of 5-year-olds in the ballet classes, but many of you (correctly) argued that little kids are sponges at that age and that George will probably retain some of what he’s learning. At one point, Prince William even talked about how much George loves to dance and many assumed that meant George loves his ballet classes. There was a distinct lack of judgment and an absence of toxic masculinity around the conversation – kids are kids and no one “judged” George for, you know, being a little boy who enjoys some of his classes, including dance.

Well, apparently Lara Spencer and the Good Morning America team just learned about George’s ballet classes, and they decided to laugh about them. As Lara reads off George’s classes, she and her cohosts laughed when they came to “ballet.” Lara says to camera, “He looks so happy about the ballet class. Prince William says George absolutely loves ballet. I have news for you Prince William: We’ll see how long that lasts.”

The backlash was swift – Lara was accused of mocking George, and mocking children/boys who love to dance. I’d like to point out that while Lara is definitely the main culprit, the GMA team can be heard laughing about it too (especially George Stephanopoulos). But Lara got the brunt of the criticism for her bizarre judgment, so she apologized in an Instagram post. In an IG nature shot, she wrote:

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.

[From Lara’s IG]

Kind of bulls–t apology. #BoysDanceToo was the hashtag being used to clapback at Spencer and all of the critics of little boys dancing. (On a personal note, I think Mikhail Baryshnikov is one of the greatest artists of the past century, and I still miss Gregory Hines and his beautiful movement every single day).

Dear @LaraSpencer… #boysdancetoo #menwhodance #princegeorge

— Debbie Allen (@msdebbieallen) August 23, 2019

Dear @LaraSpencer and anyone that needs to hear it… BOYS DANCE TOO! #BoysDanceToo

— Mark Kanemura (@mKiK808) August 23, 2019

Hey @GMA . If @LaraSpencer thinks a boy doing ballet is funny, have her do this sequence live on air. I guarantee you that would be funnier than shaming a young boy who is passionate about the art of dance. 👀#BoysDanceToo #ArtSavesLives #GoodMorningAmerica #LaraSpencer

— DuJuan Smart, Jr. (@DJSmartJr) August 23, 2019

Photos courtesy of WENN, Avalon Red and Kensington Palace.