What with the ongoing pandemic and self-isolation, the Class of 2020 may have missed out on milestones like prom, but they at least still had a graduation of sorts: last night's televised graduation special Graduate Together, where everyone from the Jonas Brothers to President Barack Obama saluted the newest field of graduates.
But it was heartthrob du jour Timothée Chalamet who made the biggest impression for many, when he gave a shoutout to the statistics teacher who inspired him to create a now notorious viral rap video back in 2013.
The hour-long special featured President Barack Obama giving a traditional graduation speech, along with short messages of congratulations from everyone from sports legends LeBron James and Megan Rapinoe, to activist Malala Yousafzai and pop star Dua Lipa. But it was Timothée Chalamet's message that stood out to many.
In a salute to teachers, Chalamet mentioned three of his favorites at his alma mater, New York's LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
"I want to thank three of my own [teachers]: Mr. Lobenhofer, Ms. Faison and Ms. Lawton. Thank you for your valiant efforts to teach me the art of statistics."
Many fans noticed Chalamet's subtle smile as he mentioned Ms. Lawton's name--almost like he was stifling a laugh? Well, that's because Ms. Lawton is none other than the teacher who inspired this epic rap video that Timothée made about her in his high school days.
If you haven't seen it, well... you owe it to yourself to click play!
Timmy Tim's got bars, y'all. They're mostly about how great he and Ms. Lawton are instead of anything having to do with statistics, but still: A+!
The epic rap video went viral back in 2017, and fans on Twitter definitely took notice of the Ms. Lawton shoutout.
Some even noticed a few Easter egg-like parallels between the Ms. Lawton video and Chalamet's Graduate Together appearance.
Coincidence? Impossible! It just goes to show how deeply teachers impact our lives--one minute they're teaching you stats, the next you're secretly performing a rap dance ode to them on national television. Now if that doesn't inspire the Class of 2020 to greatness, nothing will.
