Karla Sofia apologized for all of her awful comments (Photo Credit – Instagram)
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Despite securing 13 Academy Award nominations, Emilia Pérez and its cast have been making headlines for all the wrong reasons. While the film’s critical success should’ve been the focal point, controversies surrounding its stars, particularly Karla Sofía Gascón, have taken center stage.
Backlash was still brewing over Selena Gomez’s emotional video — where she referred to illegal immigrants as “her people” — when Zoe Saldaña’s name ignited accusations of category fraud, claiming her placement in the Best Supporting Actress category was a strategic move despite having the most screen time in Emilia Pérez. But Gascón’s case is even more incendiary.
Gascón, celebrated as the first-ever trans woman nominated for Best Actress by multiple awards bodies, has shown a shockingly aggressive side on social media. Prior to disabling her X account, she targeted Miley Cyrus with homophobic remarks. One translation reads: “This is what happens when the National Family Front forces you to marry a mustachioed man. I hope he embraces the faith of Yahael, Yatekomo, or whatever it’s called as soon as possible, though with this evil horrible unnatural lesbian perversion, they’re all going straight to hell.” Incidentally, Gascón herself is married to a woman, which contradicts her own assessment.
Gascón even took aim at her Emilia Pérez co-star Selena Gomez, referencing Gomez’s feud with Hailey Bieber. In another controversial tweet, she allegedly wrote, “She’s a rich rat who plays the poor b** whenever she can and will never stop bothering her ex-boyfriend and his wife,” alluding to Justin Bieber and Hailey. Gascón has claimed this tweet was fake, though screenshots have already gone viral.
Her rants extended beyond Hollywood’s current feuds. She mocked the legal battles between Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, replying to an article with, “Hahaha, I believe it and I’m amazed. The explosive audios that Brad Pitt has in his possession against Angelina Jolie.” As if that weren’t enough, she body-shamed Adele, tweeting, “COVID passed, and she went overboard with the sleeves, or she went under the knife and they didn’t remove the skin from her arms.”
Gascón’s offensive remarks didn’t stop with celebrities. Her tweets spiraled into homophobic, Islamophobic, and racially insensitive territory, including distasteful comments about George Floyd — whose death precipitated the BLM protests. She also took shots at the Academy, questioning its decisions to reward independent and diverse films over meritocracy, and even lashed out at fellow Best Actress nominee Fernanda Torres’ fanbase.
In a bid to do damage control, Gascón has issued multiple apologies and even set up an interview with CNN, insisting, “I’m not racist.” But the internet remains unforgiving, with calls to boycott Emilia Pérez gaining traction. As Oscar voting kicks off on February 11, the film’s 13 nominations are highly unlikely to result in major wins, potentially witnessing the worst turnaround in history.
