Karla Sofia Gascón apologizes for offensive social media posts: ‘I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain’
Emilia Pérez star and Best Actress nominee Karla Sofia Gascón has apologized after several offensive social media posts she wrote resurfaced online on Thursday.
“I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt,” Gascón said. “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.”
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Gascón, who made history last week as the first openly trans woman nominated for Best Actress, came under fire for multiple social media posts that included inflammatory language about Muslims, George Floyd, diverse Oscar winners, and even the coronavirus.
In a since-deleted post from Nov. 22, 2020, Gascón wrote, “I’m sorry. Is it just my impression, or are there more Muslims in Spain? Every time I go to 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.”
After Floyd was murdered on May 25, 2020 — a killing that sparked the Black Lives Matter protests around the world – Gascón wrote, “Let me get this straight, a guy tries to pass off a counterfeit bill after consuming methamphetamine, an idiot policeman arrives and goes too far in arresting him, killing him, ruining the lives of his family and his colleagues, and turning the guy with the bill into a martyr hero. I truly believe that very few people ever cared about George Floyd, a drug addict and a hustler, but his death has served to highlight once again that there are those who still consider Black people to be monkeys without rights and those who consider the police to be murderers. All wrong.”
In another offensive post, the actress targeted the 2021 Oscars ceremony. “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. Apart from that, an ugly, ugly gala. They forgot to give an award to my cousin’s short film, who is lame,” she wrote. That year’s winners included Nomadland (Best Picture), Chloé Zhao (Best Director for Nomadland), Youn Yuh-jung (Best Supporting Actress for Minari), and Daniel Kaluuya (Best Supporting Actor for Judas and the Black Messiah).
Gascón also posted questionable comments about the coronavirus pandemic. “The Chinese vaccine, apart from the mandatory chip, comes with two spring rolls, a cat that moves its hand, 2 plastic flowers, a pop-up lantern, 3 telephone lines, and one euro for your first controlled purchase,” she wrote on Aug. 19, 2020. That social media post remained live on her X/Twitter account through Thursday evening. Later, the actress deactivated her account altogether.
Gascón’s Best Actress nomination was one of 13 Oscar nominations for Emilia Pérez, the most ever for a non-English film. The Netflix musical is among the lead contenders for Best Picture. If Emilia Pérez were to win the Academy’s top prize, it would be only the second non-English language film to triumph in the category and the first Netflix movie to receive the Best Picture award. But after the controversy around the film’s star, many online wondered if its Best Picture prospects had dimmed. However, final voting for the Oscars doesn’t begin until Feb. 11.
The outrage over Gascón’s comments and the actress’s subsequent apology is the latest controversy to befall this year’s Oscar nominees. Earlier this week, Best Actress nominee Fernanda Torres apologized for appearing in blackface on a Brazilian comedy series 17 years ago. On Tuesday, Gascón was forced to clarify comments about Torres that suggested the actress and her surrogates were seeding negative stories about Emilia Pérez and its star online.
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