‘Emilia Pérez’ Star Karla Sofía Gascón Under Fire Over Tweets About Muslims, George Floyd, Oscars Diversity
Variety
Mere weeks after making history as the first openly trans actor nominated for an Academy Award, Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón is facing backlash over resurfaced social media posts from her X (formerly Twitter) account. The posts, many of which were deleted on Thursday after being resurfaced by journalist Sarah Hagi, contain controversial remarks about Muslims, George Floyd, and diversity at the Oscars, igniting intense debate online.
The posts, primarily from 2020 and 2021, showcase a pattern of inflammatory rhetoric. On Nov. 22, 2020, Gascón commented on the growing Muslim population in Spain:
“I’m Sorry, Is it just my impression or is 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.”
A post from Sept. 2, 2020, featured an image of a Muslim family in a restaurant, including a woman wearing a burqa. Gascón wrote:
“Islam is marvelous, without any machismo. Women are respected, and when they are so respected they are left with a little squared hole on their faces for their eyes to be visible and their mouths, but only if she behaves. Although they dress this way for their own enjoyment. How DEEPLY DISGUSTING OF HUMANITY.”
In another post from Jan. 29, 2021, Gascón’s account stated that “Islam fails to comply with international rights,” adding that religion “must be banned as long as it does not comply with DDHH” (an abbreviation for human rights in Spanish law). Her criticism extended to multiple religious institutions.
On Aug. 16, 2021, she wrote:
“I am so sick of so much of this shit, of Islam, of Christianity, of Catholicism, and of all the fucking beliefs of morons that violate human rights.”
In addition to her comments about Islam, Gascón posted a thread about George Floyd just days after his murder, which sparked global protests against police brutality.
On May 30, 2020, she wrote:
“I really 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 monkeys without rights and consider policemen to be assassins. They’re all wrong.”
She continued in a follow-up post:
“Too many things to reflect on regarding the behavior of our species every time an event occurs. Perhaps it is no longer a question of racism, but of social classes that feel threatened by each other. Maybe that’s the only real difference.”
Gascón also made disparaging remarks about the 2021 Oscars ceremony, which was the first following the COVID-19 pandemic and saw Nomadland win Best Picture.
In a now-deleted post, she wrote:
“More and more 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 [International Women’s Day]. Apart from that, an ugly, ugly gala.”
Gascón’s tweets also included anti-China sentiments during the pandemic. In August 2020, she mocked the Chinese COVID-19 vaccine, writing:
“The Chinese vaccine, apart from the mandatory chip, comes with two spring rolls, a cat that moves its hand, 2 plastic flowers, a pop-up lantern, 3 telephone lines, and one euro for your first controlled purchase.”
A February 2020 post read:
“So many scientists in the world making bombs, so many scholars constructing objects for space, so many medicinal factories and there’s no one who can get in line with this Chinese shit. (shrug emoji) In the end, it was a tremendous show for a new variant of the flu, avian or coronavirus.”
Neither Netflix nor the Academy has issued a statement regarding the resurfaced posts, and representatives for Gascón have not responded to requests for comment.
This controversy comes just days after another incident involving Gascón, in which she appeared to criticize the I’m Still Here campaign, the film starring fellow Best Actress nominee Fernanda Torres. In a Jan. 21 interview with a Brazilian newspaper, Gascón condemned online attacks on Emilia Pérez and seemed to suggest Torres’ team was engaged in a smear campaign against her.
“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 Continued:
“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 Pérezdown. That speaks more about their movie than mine.”
Following backlash, Gascón released a statement via Variety clarifying her remarks:
“I am an enormous fan of Fernanda Torres, and it has been wonderful getting to know her the past few months. In my recent comments, I was referencing the toxicity and violent hate speech on social media that I sadly continue to experience. Fernanda has been a wonderful ally, and no one directly associated with her has been anything but supportive and hugely generous.”
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How Will This Impact Gascón’s Oscar Campaign?
With Emilia Pérez positioned as a major contender this awards season, these resurfaced comments could pose a significant threat to Gascón’s Oscar campaign. The Academy has a history of distancing itself from nominees with controversial pasts, as seen in cases like Kevin Hart stepping down from hosting the Oscars after old tweets resurfaced.
Additionally, given the Academy’s ongoing push for diversity and inclusion, Gascón’s comments about Muslims, George Floyd, and the Oscars’ racial representation may alienate many voters. While the Emilia Pérez team has yet to issue a formal statement, the controversy is already making waves on social media, with many users calling for her nomination to be rescinded.
As the awards race heats up, it remains to be seen how the Academy and the industry will respond to this growing backlash.
Gascón’s resurfaced tweets paint a complex and controversial picture of the actor, raising questions about accountability, cancel culture, and the intersection of personal beliefs with public personas. With the Oscars approaching, this controversy may either die down or escalate into a defining moment of the awards season.
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