Karla Sofía Gascón won’t attend Critics Choice Awards, Producers Guild Awards after social media scandal
Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón has been removed from the film’s awards campaign following the unprecedented scandal around her inflammatory social media posts.
According to multiple outlets, including The Hollywood Reporter, plans for Gascón to visit Los Angeles this week to attend several key awards-season events — including the AFI luncheon, the Critics Choice Awards, and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival — have been scuttled. Netflix has also reframed its For Your Consideration ads to deemphasize the presence of Gascón, who plays the film’s title character.
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Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
This is a pivotal week in the Oscars race, with multiple ceremonies and events scheduled before Oscar winner voting begins on Feb. 11. On Thursday, Gascón had been set to attend the AFI luncheon with her costars Zoe Salda?a and Selena Gomez and writer-director Jacques Audiard. Gascón would have appeared with Audiard and Salda?a on Friday at the Critics Choice Awards. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Best Actress nominee was set to attend the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday night, where she would have been part of the Emilia Pérez presentation. On Sunday, Gascón was scheduled to be honored with the Santa Barbara International Film Festival Virtuoso Award.
Instead, the Emilia Pérez banner will now be waved by others — mainly, Salda?a who remains a frontrunner to win Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars despite the Gascón controversy. It’s widely predicted that Salda?a will win Best Supporting Actress at the Critics Choice Awards on Friday — voting for that event took place back in January, just after Salda?a won at the Golden Globes, long before Gascón’s toxic views about Muslims, George Floyd, and diversity at the Oscars resurfaced. Thus far, the actress has distanced herself from Gascón. Last week, at an event for Emilia Pérez in London, Salda?a said of the controversy, “It makes me really sad because I don’t support, and I don’t have any tolerance for, any negative rhetoric towards people of any group. I can only attest to the experience that I had with each and every individual that was a part, that is a part, of this film, and my experience and my interactions with them were about inclusivity and collaboration and racial, cultural, and gender equity. And it just saddens me.”
On Sunday, while accepting Best Supporting Actress from the London Film Critics Circle, Salda?a expressed genuine surprise over the victory. “I didn’t have anything prepared, you guys. I wasn’t expecting this, and especially now,” Salda?a said, referencing the controversy. “I’m so grateful to you.” (Voting for the awards occurred before Gascón’s social media posts were revealed.)
While Salda?a has commented on the controversy, neither Audiard nor Gomez have discussed it publicly. Gomez was allegedly the target of Gascón in one social media post that referred to the star as a “rich rat,” although Gascón has said that post was doctored. “Of course, that’s not mine,” Gascón told CNN on Saturday. “I have never said anything about my partner. I would never refer to her that way.”
Gascón has taken an increasingly defiant and public approach to the scandal. Netflix released a statement attributed to the Best Actress nominee on Thursday, in which she said, “I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt. 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.” (Gascón is the first openly trans woman nominated for Best Actress.)
However, as widely reported, following the distributor’s sanctioned statement, Gascón communicated on her own accord about the scandal. This included a statement released directly to The Hollywood Reporter and an hour-long interview with CNN en Espa?ol on Saturday. In that interview, Gascón cried several times and said she wouldn’t renounce her nomination.
“I cannot renounce a nomination because what I have done is a job, and what is being valued is my acting work. And I cannot renounce a nomination either because I have not committed any crime nor have I harmed anyone,” she said. “I am not a racist, nor am I anything that all these people have taken it upon themselves to try to make others believe that I am.”
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