All the Alleged Problematic Tweets by ‘Emilia Pérez’ Star Karla Sofía Gascón
Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón made history by being the first openly transgender actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She’s also the first transgender actress to win the Cannes Film Festival and the European Film Award for Best Actress. She seemed poised to be the next big thing—that is, until her old problematic tweets resurfaced.
Karla Sofía Gascón’s Problematic Tweets
Journalist Sarah Hagi unearthed Karla Sofía Gascón’s problematic tweets from 2020 to 2021 about Muslims, George Floyd and even the Academy Awards.
One tweet, dated November 22, 2020, reads, “I’m Sorry. Is it just my impression, or are there more Muslims in Spain? Every time I go to pick up my daughter from school, there are more women with their hair covered and their skirts down to their heels. Next year, instead of English, we’ll have to teach Arabic,” as Variety translated from Spanish to English.
In another post, Gascón called George Floyd a “drug addict swindler.” The tweet reads, “Honestly, I think that very few people ever cared about George Floyd, a drug addict swindler, but his death has served to once again demonstrate that there are people who still consider Black people to be … without rights and consider policemen to be assassins. They’re all wrong,” per USA Today.
Forbes also reported that the Academy Award nominee even tweeted about the 2021 Academy Awards. Gascón tweeted that the ceremony is an “ugly, ugly gala,” and that the “#Oscars are looking like a ceremony for independent and protest films, I didn’t know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or the 8M.”
A resurfaced tweet even alleged the actress tweeted about her co-star Selena Gomez. Per People, “She’s a rich rat who plays the poor b—— whenever she can and will never stop bothering her ex-boyfriend and his wife,” referring to Gomez’s ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber and his wife, Hailey.
Co-Star Speaks Up
Zoe Saldaña, Gascón’s co-star addressed the issue. According to The Independent, Saldaña said, “It makes me really sad because I don’t support [it], and I don’t have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group.”
She added, “I can only attest to the experience that I had with each and every individual that was a part, that is a part, of this film, and my experience and my interactions with them was about inclusivity and collaboration and racial, cultural and gender equity. And it just saddens me.”
What it Means for the Movie
Leading the Oscar race with 13 nominations, Netflix, which owns distribution rights to the movie, has started to distance itself from Gascón who was supposed to join her co-stars in various awards campaigning. She will not be flying to Los Angeles, per The Hollywood Reporter.
In an apology through Netflix (via Deadline), Gascón said, “I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt. As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain. All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”
Before the problematic tweets resurfaced, Karla Sofía Gascón had been involved in another controversy including fellow nominee, I’m Still Here co-star Fernanda Torres, accusing Torres’ media team of tearing her and Emilia Pérez down. In an interview with a Brazilian newspaper (via Variety), Gascón said, “What I don’t like are social media teams — people who work with these people — trying to diminish our work, like me and my movie, because that doesn’t lead anywhere.”
She added, “You don’t need to tear down someone’s work to highlight another’s. I have never, at any point, said anything bad about Fernanda Torres or her movie. However, there are people working with Fernanda Torres tearing me and ‘Emilia Pérez’ down. That speaks more about their movie than mine.”