After scandal over old tweets: Karla Sofá Gascón wants to attend Oscars despite harsh criticism

After scandal over old tweets Karla Sofía Gascón wants to participate in Oscars despite harsh criticism 25.02.2025, 08:26

Karla Sofía Gascón has caused a scandal with previous racist and Islamophobic statements. Despite this, the star of the film "Emilia Pérez" will not be dissuaded from attending the Oscars. The director of the nominated film has broken off contact with her.

Following a controversy over previous racist and Islamophobic tweets, "Emilia Pérez" star Karla Sofía Gascón has stayed away from all award ceremonies in recent weeks. However, as reported by "Variety" and others, the actress is now scheduled to attend the Oscars on March 2nd, where she is nominated for Best Actress.

However, it is still unclear whether she will walk the red carpet or give interviews. It is also not known whether she will sit next to her co-stars Zoë Saldaña and Selena Gomez or director Jacques Audiard during the ceremony at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.

Netflix is ​​said to be covering the costs of her participation in the awards ceremony. The streaming service removed Gascón from its advertising campaign for the Oscars in early February because of the tweet controversy. It was also said that she would not attend any upcoming official events for the film.

"Emilia Pérez" was produced for Netflix and is nominated in a total of 13 categories at the Oscars. The Spanish-language film is the most non-English-language film of all time at the Oscars and Gascón is the first trans woman to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress.

Director breaks off contact with actress

The background to the controversy is previous statements by Gascón on social media that have led to her being accused of racism. In them, she described Islam as a "hotbed of infection for humanity" and mocked the anti-racist movement following the death of black US citizen George Floyd at the hands of police violence.

"Emilia Pérez" director Jacques Audiard then spoke out. He said in an interview with "Deadline" that it was difficult for him to think back to working with his leading actress. "What Karla Sofía said is inexcusable." He has not spoken to her since then and "does not want to."

After the tweets became known, Gascón initially denied having written the words, closed her X account and then apologized in a statement to "The Hollywood Reporter." She denounced a "hate campaign" being waged against her that was leading to her and her family being harassed.