It didn’t take long for the finger-pointing to begin in the wake of the spectacular implosion of Karla Sofía Gascón’s Oscar campaign for Best Actress in “Emilia Pérez” after an archive of her racist tweets insulting Blacks, Muslims and Jews came to light.
The incident – like a wildfire that incinerated her Oscar hopes in the course of a day last week — threatened to create a secondary burn zone among the publicists and marketers who run awards campaigns, and who found themselves facing accusations of negative campaigning not seen for many years.
Said one awards consultant who summed up the general gossip: “It’s obviously a smear campaign, but what do I know?”
Hollywood is nothing if not clubby, and Oscar campaigns can turn toxic on a dime.