Offensive historic tweets posted by Karla Sofía Gascón, the transgender Spanish star of the Oscar-nominated film Emilia Pérez, have led to a week of fallout and left the film’s awards campaign in disarray.
Streaming giant Netflix, the distributor for the film, has also removed the actress from its promotional campaigns leading up to the Oscar awards ceremony in early March.
Emilia Pérez is a Spanish-language musical about a Mexican drug cartel boss who transitions to life as a woman and turns her back on crime.
Posts on Twitter (now known as X) mostly between 2019 and 2024 by best actress nominee Gascón – the first openly transgender acting nominee in the Academy Awards history – have been widely condemned since they came to light last week.
The actress has released several statements since then, saying she was ‘deeply sorry to those I have caused pain’, adding that she is not racist and that many of her comments have been taken out of context.
In the days since, however, Hollywood has distanced itself from her posts, while Netflix has now refocused its campaign efforts on the film’s other nominees.
Karla Sofía Gascón (formerly Carlos Gascón) said she had been on a ‘rollercoaster of emotions’ in the past week in her latest statement published on Instagram (she has currently deactivated her X account).
‘What a coincidence I’ve been trying to send a message of hope to the world for nine months and just three days ago I casually am the worst person in the world,’ she added.
The tweets saw Gascón denigrate or mock wide-ranging subjects, including China, Islam, George Floyd – the black man whose 2020 killing by police spurred massive protest – and the high level of diversity efforts at the Oscars. In some posts, Gascón likened the Oscars to an ‘Afro-Korean festival’, or a ‘Black Lives Matter demonstration’. The actress also called Islam a ‘hotbed of infection for humanity’ and ‘deeply disgusting’.
Gascón, 52, initially apologised in a statement and deactivated her account on X, but soon reversed course by defending herself publicly.
She also gave an emotional, hour-long sit-down interview to CNN en Español. She told CNN she is ‘not a racist’ and would not withdraw from Oscar contention, and blamed ‘cancel culture’ in an Instagram post.
It has since come to light that Gascón took part in the CNN interview without the involvement or agreement of the film’s PR team.
The Hollywood Reporter said it had learned that the actress ‘set up the interview on her own without the involvement of anyone working on the film, which was distributed by Netflix’.
The fact that this line was briefed to US journalists suggested that Netflix was not only distancing itself from Gascón, but that the streamer’s own PR team may not have signed off on such an interview being granted.
Images of Gascón had previously featured prominently in Netflix’s publicity material for their film, including posters, billboards and advertisements. The film has earned 13 Oscar nominations — more than any other movie this year.
But since the CNN interview, the Netflix campaign has abruptly changed tack.
An updated poster released on Monday almost entirely erased Gascón, instead making her co-stars Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez much more prominent.
Gascón had also been due to appear at several events in the next week or so.
These included the AFI Awards luncheon, the Critics Choice Awards, the Directors Guild of America Awards, the Producers Guild of America Awards, and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
However, the actress is now not expected to appear at any of them, as the turmoil continues.
Hollywood’s leading trade publication, Variety, also reported that Netflix ‘is no longer covering expenses for her travel to the various awards shows or her styling for any appearances at these events’.
It remains to be seen whether Gascón will attend the Oscars, which are scheduled to take place on 2 March.
The film Emilia Pérez had previously received criticism for its depictions of Mexico and its drug war, its representation of trans issues, and its use of AI to increase Gascón’s voice range in musical scenes.
Up until now, the film had appeared to weather those storms, remaining a perceived frontrunner for multiple Academy Awards.
Controversy has not always prevented films from going on to enjoy success at the Oscars.
Green Book, a drama based on the real-life story of a black musician and his white driver in the 1960s Deep South, was widely condemned for perpetuating ‘white saviour’ stereotypes. It won the Best Picture Oscar in 2019.
A tweet had surfaced during Oscars campaigning, in which one of the movie’s producers expressed support for false claims that Muslims were celebrating in New Jersey following the 9/11 terror attacks.
Karla Sofía Gascón has been completely erased from the latest Oscars ‘For Your Consideration’ ad for Emilia Pérez. I wonder why!?? pic.twitter.com/4AJ2jOSsgl
— Jason (@jasonosia) February 3, 2025
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