Misty Copeland walked into Lavan Midtown in New York City on March 8 with a lot to say — and the room was ready to listen. The historic first Black principal dancer at American Ballet Theatre was one of the featured voices at the launch of The Strength Issue, a bold new initiative from Aveeno and women’s sports media company TOGETHXR. The event, held on International Women’s Day, brought together some of the most compelling women in sports, media, and advocacy to celebrate strength in all its forms.
For Copeland, the evening was more than a celebration. It was an opportunity to address a cultural moment head-on, speak her truth about the enduring power of ballet, and remind anyone who needed reminding that art forms do not need to go viral to matter.
What Is The Strength Issue and Why It Was Launched on International Women’s Day
The Strength Issue is a collaboration between Aveeno and TOGETHXR built around a simple but powerful idea: women’s strength is not one-dimensional. It is complex, multifaceted, and deeply human — encompassing resilience, vulnerability, discipline, and grace in equal measure. The initiative was designed to give female athletes a dedicated space to own their narratives and reshape how strength is defined, discussed, and celebrated in culture.
The launch event, held at Lavan Midtown in New York City, featured a panel discussion hosted by award-winning journalist MJ Acosta-Ruiz — herself a featured writer in the issue — alongside Kirsten Hurley, Aveeno’s Head of Commercial, and Kati Fernandez, Chief Content Officer at TOGETHXR. The atmosphere was intentionally communal, with attendees invited to write down what they believed their personal strength was and connect with other powerful women in the room. It was, by every account, a fitting way to mark International Women’s Day.
Misty Copeland Responds to Timothée Chalamet’s “No One Cares” About Ballet Comment
The moment that generated the most buzz at the event was Copeland’s response to comments made by actor Timothée Chalamet at a February town hall hosted by Variety and CNN. While in conversation with Matthew McConaughey about preserving the theatrical movie experience, Chalamet remarked that he believes “no one cares” about ballet or opera anymore. The comment caught significant attention online and put Copeland — one of ballet’s most visible ambassadors — directly in the spotlight.
Rather than responding with anger, Copeland used the moment to make a broader and more important point. “I think that it’s important that we acknowledge this is an art form that is not popular and a part of pop culture as movies are,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have enduring relevance in culture.” She also pushed back on the tendency to equate popularity with meaning. “I think that it’s often mistaken when something is popular that it’s more meaningful or more impactful. And there’s a reason that the opera and ballet have been around for over 400 years, and I think that when you have access and opportunity to be a part of something, it can change your life.”
Interestingly, the controversy did not end in conflict. Chalamet ultimately invited Copeland to help promote his film Marty Supreme, a collaboration she noted worked in ballet’s favor by bringing renewed attention to the art form. The unexpected partnership became a real-world example of exactly what Copeland has spent her career working toward — getting more eyes on ballet by any means necessary.
Copeland Connects Ballet’s Legacy to Timothée Chalamet’s Own Career
One of the sharpest and most memorable moments of Copeland’s remarks came when she drew a direct line between ballet’s cultural legacy and the very industry Chalamet works in. “I mean, he wouldn’t be an actor and have the opportunity to be seen as a movie star if it weren’t for opera and ballet and the relevance in that medium,” she pointed out plainly. “All of these mediums have a space, and we shouldn’t be comparing them.”
That argument is more than just a defense of ballet — it is a statement about how all art forms are interconnected, how each one builds on traditions and storytelling structures that came before it. Copeland, who retired from ballet in 2025 after a career that fundamentally changed what American ballet looks like, speaks about this with the authority of someone who has lived it. Her perspective is not academic — it is earned through decades of discipline, struggle, and breakthrough.
The Misty Copeland Foundation and Her Lifelong Mission to Open Ballet’s Doors
Beyond the stage and the panel circuit, Copeland’s commitment to ballet’s future is most tangible in the work she does through the Misty Copeland Foundation, which she founded in 2021. The organization is dedicated to making ballet more affordable, accessible, and inclusive, with a specific focus on introducing children in under-resourced communities to the art form. By prioritizing diversity, equity, and opportunity, the foundation works to ensure that the next generation of dancers reflects the full breadth of the communities around them.
“It’s the work I’ve done my whole career, is to bring more people into it, so that people do understand the importance and the relevance of it in our communities and our culture, and you see it reflected everywhere,” Copeland said at the event. That mission has been the throughline of everything she has done — from becoming the first Black woman to hold a principal position at ABT to building a foundation that actively dismantles the barriers she once had to fight through herself.
For Copeland, expanding access to ballet is not just about preserving an art form — it is about transforming lives. “When you have access and opportunity to be a part of something, it can change your life,” she said, and that belief clearly drives every aspect of her post-performance career.
Ali Truwit and the Broader Message of The Strength Issue
Copeland was not the only powerful presence at the event. Paralympic swimmer and shark attack survivor Ali Truwit also took part in the celebration, sharing her own deeply personal story of perseverance and redefining strength on her own terms. Truwit, a two-time Paralympic silver medalist, represents the kind of multidimensional courage that The Strength Issue was created to spotlight — the kind that is not just about athletic performance, but about what it takes to rebuild, persist, and compete at the highest level after unimaginable adversity.
Together, Copeland and Truwit embodied the core message Aveeno and TOGETHXR set out to communicate: that women’s strength cannot be reduced to a single story or a single image. It shows up in a ballet dancer who spent decades fighting for inclusion in a world that told her she did not belong. It shows up in a swimmer who returned to the water after a life-altering attack and stood on a Paralympic podium. And it shows up in every woman who walked into that room on International Women’s Day and wrote down what strength means to her.