“Emilia Pérez” Best Actress Oscar nominee Karla Sofía Gascón apologized Thursday for a string of resurfaced tweets that she admitted “have caused hurt.”
The since-deleted tweets, which were dug up in increasing numbers as the day went on, expressed anti-Islam and -vaccination views, disparaged George Floyd as a “hustler” and complained about previous Oscars ceremonies for being too woke.
“I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt,” Gascón said through Netflix’s PR team. “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.”
The attention on her past tweets came after Gascón had come under fire for alleging in a Brazilian interview that people close to Fernanda Torres, the Brazilian actress who was nominated for “I’m Still Here,” had been disparaging her on social media. The Academy said that her comments about Torres did not constitute a campaign violation, but Gascón issued a statement backing off from her previous comments and saying that “no one directly associated with (Torres) has been anything but supportive and hugely generous.”
After the Academy confirmed that her statements were not a violation, attention turned to old tweets that predated the release of “Emilia Pérez.” The Muslim Public Affairs Council issued a statement to TheWrap calling her comments “hurtful, offensive and shocking,” leading to the subsequent apology.
All season, “Emilia Perez” has been one of the most widely-attacked of the Oscar contenders on social media, with critics also singling out French director Jacques Audiard’s decision to shoot the film in France and use a largely non-Mexican cast, despite the fact that the film about a transgender drug lord is set in Mexico and has largely Mexican characters.
Despite the widespread criticism on social media, “Emilia Pérez” leads all films in nominations for this year’s Oscars with 13, setting a new record for the most nominations ever for a film not in English.
Steve Pond contributed to this report.