“Emilia Perez” Oscar nominee Karla Sofía Gascón will attend the Academy Awards on Sunday after her awards campaign was derailed by years-old racist tweets resurfaced by a freelance journalist.
Gascón has laid low since the tweets were exposed, deleting her social media accounts and declining to attend the BAFTAs and SAG Awards among other awards ceremonies that fill the lead up to Oscar Sunday. Other “Emilia Perez” nominees, including director Jacques Audiard and co-star Zoe Saldana, have distanced themselves from Gascón over her comments.
“I decided, for the film, for Jacques, for the cast, for the incredible crew who deserves it, for the beautiful adventure we all had together, to let the work talk for itself, hoping my silence will allow the film to be appreciated for what it is, a beautiful ode to love and difference. I sincerely apologize to everyone who has been hurt along the way,” Gascón wrote on Instagram earlier this month.
Gascón is the first openly trans actress to be nominated for an Academy Award. In “Emilia Perez,” she plays the titular former drug lord who calls on a lawyer, played by Saldana, to help her fake her death and transition to escape her life of crime. Years later, she tries to make amends by establishing an NGO that helps families of those killed by drug cartels to find closure.
Gascón’s plans to attend the Oscars were first reported by Page Six.
