‘Emilia Pérez’ Star Karla Sofía Gascón Under Fire Over Tweets About Muslims, George Floyd, Oscars Diversity
“Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofía Gascón is under fire for a series of social media posts to her account on X, formerly known as Twitter, in which the actor appears to express controversial views on Muslims, George Floyd and diversity at the Oscars.
The posts, many of which were deleted on Thursday after they were resurfaced by journalist Sarah Hagi, were largely posted between 2020 and 2021. One example, dated Nov. 22, 2020: “I’m Sorry, Is it just my impression or is 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.” (Variety has independently translated the tweets.)
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Another post from Sept. 2, 2020, attached to photo of a Muslim family in a restaurant, including a woman in a burka, reads: “Islam is marvelous, without any machismo. Women are respected, and when they are so respected they are left with a little squared hole on their faces for their eyes to be visible and their mouths, but only if she behaves. Although they dress this way for their own enjoyment. How DEEPLY DISGUSTING OF HUMANITY.”
In a post from Jan. 29, 2021, Gascón’s account says that “Islam fails to comply with international rights,” and that the religions “must be banned as long as it does not comply with DDHH” — using an abbreviation for human rights in Spanish law.
The commentary appears to extend to other religions as well. In a post from Aug. 16, 2021, Gascón writes, “I am so sick of so much of this shit, of islam, of christianity, of catholicism and of all the fucking beliefs of morons that violate human rights.”
Along with her posts about Islam, Gascón posted a long thread about George Floyd just days after he was killed by a police officer, inspiring protests across the U.S. “I really 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 monkeys Without rights and consider policemen to be assassins,” she posted. “They’re all wrong.”
In a follow-up post, 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.”
Gascón, who is the first openly trans actor to be nominated for an Academy Award, also weighed in on the Oscar ceremony from 2021, the first held following the COVID pandemic in which “Nomadland” won best picture.
“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.”
Netflix and the Academy had no comment. Spokespeople for Gascón did not respond to requests for comment.
Gascón’s old social posts came to light following a separate controversy, in which the actor, in an interview with a Brazilian newspaper on Jan. 21, criticized campaigns online that she believed attacked her and “Emilia Pérez,” and appeared to single out the team working with fellow best actress nominee, “I’m Still Here” star Fernanda Torres.
“What I don’t like are social media teams — people who work with these people — trying to diminish our work, like me and my movie, because that doesn’t lead anywhere,” Gascón said. “You don’t need to tear down someone’s work to highlight another’s. I have never, at any point, said anything bad about Fernanda Torres or her movie. However, there are people working with Fernanda Torres tearing me and ‘Emilia Pérez’ down. That speaks more about their movie than mine.”
Video of the interview began circulating online, leading to incorrect speculation that Gascón’s interview had violated Oscar guidelines. On Jan. 29, Gascón released a statement to Variety clarifying her position.
“I am an enormous fan of Fernanda Torres and it has been wonderful getting to know her the past few months,” Gascón said. “In my recent comments, I was referencing the toxicity and violent hate speech on social media that I sadly continue to experience. Fernanda has been a wonderful ally, and no one directly associated with her has been anything but supportive and hugely generous.”
Thania Garcia contributed to this post.
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