Despite controversies surrounding abusive social media posts, Oscar contender Karla Sofía Gascón, star of “Emilia Pérez,” is continuing to compete for best actress.
The first openly transgender actress to be nominated for an Oscar in an acting category last month, Gascón again expressed her “most sincere apologies to all the people who may have felt offended” in an interview with CNN’s Juan Carlos Arciniegas.
“I have no criminal record and haven’t hurt anyone, so I can’t decline an Oscar nomination. “I am not racist, nor have any of these individuals attempted to portray me as such,” Gascón said.
The dispute started when journalist Sarah Hagi posted screenshots of Gascón’s previous social media remarks, in which she expressed disapproval of Muslim culture, George Floyd’s passing, and the Oscars’ direction.
Gascón apologised for her posts this week after deactivating her X account due to the incident. In a statement, Gascón said, “I want to address the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused harm.”
“As someone who belongs to a marginalised group, I am all too familiar with this suffering and regret causing it. I have battled for a better world my entire life. In my opinion, light will always prevail over darkness.”
Gascón offered commentary on the Floyd case, who passed away in 2020 following a run-in with the law in Minneapolis, in one of the posts, which was initially published in Spanish. She stated, in part, “I firmly believe that very few ever gave a damn about George Floyd, a drug addict and scammer.”
The actress also took issue with the 2021 Oscars, which were hosted during the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time, she wrote, “I couldn’t tell if I was watching a Black Lives Matter demonstration, an Afro-Korean festival, or March 8th. The #Oscars are increasingly resembling an independent and vindicative film awards ceremony.”
According to Gascón’s CNN interview, she didn’t “recognise” some of the posts that have come back.
“Without a trial or the opportunity to defend myself, I have been condemned, judged, sacrificed, crucified, and stoned,” Gascón stated.
She denied posting a since-deleted 2022 tweet that disparaged Selena Gomez, her co-star in “Emilia Pérez.”
“It’s not mine. I have never mentioned my colleague in that manner, and I would never use that term to describe her,” Gascón stated.
Gascón’s performance in “Emilia Pérez,” a Netflix musical and crime thriller that follows a Mexican drug trafficker who seeks gender reassignment surgery, has earned her an Oscar nomination for best actress. The film has also caused a lot of controversy, particularly in Mexico.
