Angela Bassett ‘gobsmacked’ Jamie Lee Curtis won Oscar over her: ‘Supreme disappointment’

She might have “done the thing,” but Jamie Lee Curtis … won the thing.

Angela Bassett felt “gobsmacked” after losing the 2023 Oscar for Best Supporting Actress to Jamie Lee Curtis.

“I was,” Bassett, 65, told Oprah Winfrey during a recent interview on the Oprah Winfrey Network. “I thought I handled it very well, and that was my intention: to handle it very well.” 

“It was, of course, a supreme disappointment, and disappointment is human, so yes, I was disappointed, and I handled it like a human being.”

The actress, who was nominated for her role as Queen Ramonda for Marvel’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” was competing for the prestigious award alongside Curtis, 65, for her role in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Other nominees included Hong Chau for “The Whale,” Kerry Cordon for “The Banshees of Inisherin” and Stephanie Hsu for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Bassett, who had previously scored a Golden Globe and a Critics’ Choice Award for the role, was believed to be a shoo-in.

However, Curtis managed to take the award home in a shocking upset.

“I didn’t get the whole ‘Angela Bassett face,’” Winfrey, 70, told the actress, referring to how Bassett’s muted reaction to Curtis’ win went viral.

“I thought, wow, you can see that [you] expected another thing, but you were still as gracious as a queen would be,” Winfrey continued. “I thought you actually handled it really well because people are saying your disappointment showed. But I thought you handled it very well.”

Bassett, who was the first person ever to be nominated for a Marvel film, agreed with the former talk show host.

“Absolutely. For myself and for my children, who were there with me, yes,” she said. “I know a pastor who says ‘technology is different — people are the same.’ There are going to be these moments of disappointment that they are going to experience. But how do you handle yourself in the midst of them? We’re going to smile, we’re going to be gracious, we’re going to be kind — we got a party, anyway.”

Some critics, however, panned the “Whitney” star for being a sore loser when the actress failed to give Curtis a standing ovation despite being in the front row.

“Angela Bassett’s reaction hurts me,” one person posted on X (formerly Twitter).

“Regardless of who won that Oscar … Angela Bassett could have clapped for the winner. To just sit there and not clap because you didn’t win,” someone wrote.

“Dayumm #AngelaBassett it’s ok. It’s called losing gracefully. Sitting with a scowl all pissed,” one person tweeted.

“Angela Bassett not standing up for Jamie Lee Curtis is kinda shady. I get you’re upset for not winning but damn,” added a fourth person.

Bassett later broke her silence on the loss for the Time 100 Most Influential People of 2023 series.

“On the evening of the Oscars, with Austin [Butler] seated next to me, I understood intimately what he felt when it was time to learn if he would climb those stairs to the stage,” Bassett wrote. “So, I took his hand and held it softly as the winner was announced. Although his name wasn’t called, Austin is no less a winner.”

“The time had come for Austin to say goodbye to ‘Elvis’ as he began to embrace an infinite universe of possibilities as an actor. I can’t wait to see what he brings us next,” she continued.