Karla Sofía Gascón apologizes for George Floyd, diversity at Oscars tweets: 'I am not a racist'

Last week, "Emilia Pérez" star Karla Sofía Gascón made history as the first openly transgender actress to receive an Oscar nomination for her role in the Netflix film. Now, she's apologizing for resurfaced social media posts expressing controversial views on Muslims, George Floyd and diversity at the Academy Awards.

"I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt," she said in a statement obtained by USA TODAY Thursday. "As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain."

On Thursday morning, journalist Sarah Hagi shared screenshots of several of Gascón's old posts on X, formerly Twitter, and they quickly gained steam —and backlash — from people on social media. Variety was first to report the news.

"It's so insane that karla sofía gascón still has these tweets up. straight up have never seen tweets this racist from someone actively campaigning to win an ACADEMY AWARD," Hagi wrote of Gascón's offensive posts.

Gascón concluded her Thursday statement by saying, "All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness."

As of Saturday, Gascón issued a third statement ? this time, via Instagram, and maintained that she "is not a racist."

USA TODAY has reached out to Gascón's representatives for comment.

Karla Sofía Gascón apologies again, says tweets were out of context

"How it happened with 'Emilia Pérez': Everyone can change for the better, including me," the actress wrote in Spanish in a lengthy Instagram statement on Saturday. "They already won."

"The first thing I would like to do is to offer my sincerest apologies to all those who have felt harmed by my way of expressing myself at any stage of my life. I have a lot to learn in this world … Life has taught me something I never wanted to learn: It is clear to me that no matter how much your message is one (thing), without using the right words, it becomes another."

"I cannot fix my past actions, I can only say that today I am not the same person from 10 or 20 years ago, that although I have not committed any crime, I am not perfect either, nor am I now," she said. "I can only try to learn and be a batter person every day."

Some of Gascón's resurfaced tweets date as recently as 2020.

She concluded her apology, adding: "They have already won, they have achieved their objective, to stain my existence with lies or things taken out of context. Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a racist (you will be surprised when you find out that one of the most important people in my current life and that I love the most is Muslim) nor any of the things for which I have been judged and condemned without trial and without option to explain true intention; I have always fought for a more just society and for a world of freedom, peace and love. I will never support wars, religious extremism or the oppression of races and peoples."

Amid Gascón deactivating her X account, claiming she was receiving death threats, her "Emilia Peréz" co-star Zoe Salda?a addressed the unearthed social media posts.

"It makes me really sad because I don't support (it), and I don't have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group," Salda?a said at a Q&A in London on Friday, per a video by The Hollywood Reporter.

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Gascón's controversial tweets on George Floyd, diversity at the Oscars and Muslims resurface

In one of the posts dated Nov. 23, 2020, which was translated by USA TODAY, Gascón wrote in Spanish: "Sorry, is it just me or are there more Muslims in Spain? Every time I pick up my daughter from school there are more women with their hair covered and their skirts down to their heels. Next year instead of English, we'll have to teach Arabic …"

Gascón also shared a thread about her thoughts on George Floyd, the Black Lives Matter movement and the nationwide demonstrations that occurred in response to his murder at the hands of police.

"Honestly, I think that very few people ever cared about George Floyd, a drug addict swindler, but his death has served to once again demonstrate that there are people who still consider Black people to be … without rights and consider policemen to be assassins," she posted. "They're all wrong."

Gascón added: "Too many things to reflect on regarding the behavior of our species every time an event occurs. Perhaps it is no longer a question of racism, but of social classes that feel threatened by each other. Maybe that's the only real difference."

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In another post, the Oscar nominee also criticized The Academy for its 2021 awards show ceremony, the first following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

"More and more the #Oscars are looking like a ceremony for independent and protest films, I didn't know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or the 8M," Gascón wrote. "Apart from that, an ugly, ugly gala."

USA TODAY has reached out to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for comment. According to Variety and The Hollywood Reporter, many posts were deleted before Gascón's account was deactivated.

The 'Emilia Peréz' star deactivates X account over death threats

In a lengthy statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter on Friday, she said, "I'm sorry, but I can no longer allow this campaign of hate and misinformation to affect me and my family, so at their request I am closing my account on X."

"I have been threatened with death, insulted, abused and harassed to the point of exhaustion. I have a wonderful daughter to protect, whom I love madly and who supports me in everything," she continued. "I have defended each and every one of the minorities in this world and supported freedom of religion and any action against racism and homophobia in the same way that I have criticized the hypocrisy that underlies them, because the first thing I am critical of is myself."

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Who is Karla Sofía Gascón?

Gascón earned an Academy Award nomination for best actress for the Spanish-language crime thriller "Emilia Pérez," becoming the first openly trans actress to do so.

Directed by French filmmaker Jacques Audiard, the film is an unconventional movie musical about a Mexican drug lord (Gascón) who undergoes gender affirmation surgery. Selena Gomez co-stars as her disgruntled wife, while Salda?a plays a high-powered lawyer who befriends the ex-kingpin.

Born in Madrid, Gascón in 2009 moved from Spain to Mexico, where she appeared in telenovelas such as "Hasta el fin del mundo" and "Llena de amor." With the support of her wife and now-teenage daughter, she began her transition in 2018, and was cast in "Emilia Pérez" in 2022.

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'Emilia Peréz' receives backlash from Latino community

The movie has been heavily scrutinized by critics and social media users, drawing comparisons to everything from "Mrs. Doubtfire" to the much-maligned Oscar best picture winner "Crash."

The film leads the 2025 Academy Awards nominations with 13 nods.

Critics of the film also include some in the Mexican community, who see the film as an inauthentic portrayal of the country's culture and drug war issue. The non-profit LGBTQ advocacy organization GLAAD called it a "profoundly retrograde portrayal of a trans woman" that "recycles the trans stereotypes, tropes, and clichés of the not-so-distant past."

Gascón described transphobia during 'Emilia Peréz' awards campaign circuit

Gascón has also encountered ignorance while doing the awards campaign circuit these last few months.

"The other day, this woman came up to me and was telling me how wonderful my work was,” she told USA TODAY in November 2024. "Then she asked me, 'If you get nominated, will you be nominated for best actress or best actor?' And I told her, 'Ma'am, I am an actress! If I played a monster or an old dog, I would still be nominated as an actress!' "

But with her visibility throughout awards season, the outspoken actress told USA TODAY she hoped to educate people about what it means to be trans.

"All I can do is focus on planting the seed by doing my work and showing that I am no different than anybody else," Gascón said. "I just want to live my life without anybody bothering me — everyone deserves to be themselves."

(This story has been updated with new information.)

Contributing: Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Karla Sofia Gascon apologizes over controversial tweets resurfacing