Netflix breaks silence on 'Emilia Pérez' actress' racist rant scandal: 'A bummer'

Netflix executives are breaking their silence on the scandal surrounding "Emilia Pérez" star Karla Sofía Gascón.

The company's chief content officer Bela Bajaria opened up about backlash directed at the streaming giant over Gascón's unearthed racist social media posts during an episode of "The Town with Matthew Belloni" podcast, released Wednesday.

"I think it's really a bummer for the 100 incredibly talented people who made an amazing movie. And if you look at the nominations, and all of this awards love that it's received, I think it's such a bummer that it distracted from that," Bajaria said.

Before she deactivated her X account, Gascón had posts aimed at Muslim people, Black people, George Floyd and diversity at the Academy Awards that were posted as recently as 2021.

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"It really has kind of taken the conversation in a different way (from) this incredible movie that Jacques Audiard — who is an incredible director — has made," Bajaria said of the controversy on the "This Town" podcast. "It really is a bummer for a lot of the people, like (co-stars) Zoe (Salda?a) and Selena (Gomez). And our awards team did an incredible campaign for that movie."

On whether Netflix would reconsider their social media vetting practices, Bajaria pointed out that "it's not really common practice for people (or companies) to vet social tweets that way" in the entertainment industry but added that "a lot of people are reevaluating that" after the controversy.

When pressed further by Belloni, Bajaria said "it raises a lot of questions about what" a social media vetting process "should look like," but she doubled down on Netflix's acquisition of the buzzy "Emilia" film, saying "it really does detract from a movie that is so special."

"If you ask me today, everything I know, we would still buy the movie today," Bajaria added.

"Even knowing the tweets were still out there?" Belloni asked. "That movie is incredible and it's creative and it’s bold — that's what you want, you want to take those big swings," Bajaria said, adding that the film "resonated with a lot of people this year.”

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Born in Madrid, Gascón, who transitioned in 2018, is the first openly trans actress to receive an Oscar nod. She was once seen as a trailblazing voice for diversity in film and beyond with her advocacy during this year's Oscar campaign.

"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 told USA TODAY in November. "I just want to live my life without anybody bothering me – everyone deserves to be themselves.”

She has apologized several times for her insensitive tweets, but has seemingly lost the support of Netflix, her co-stars and the film's director Audiard.

The Oscar hopes of 'Emilia Pérez' are in jeopardy amid Gascón scandal

"Emilia Pérez," the most nominated film at this year's Academy Awards, was also a beaming sign of hope for Netflix amid an uncertain Oscars season.

The company has campaigned constantly for the movie musical, which follows Gascón as she plays a Mexican drug kingpin who undergoes gender-affirming surgery and starts a new life as a social worker.

The film co-stars Salda?a, Gomez and Adriana Paz, all of whom shared the best actress prize at Cannes Film Festival in France last spring. But the controversy has thrown this year's Oscars race into a tailspin.

Salda?a is a frontrunner for the best supporting actress Oscar, after her win at this year's Golden Globes, and Netflix execs are pushing for their first-ever best picture win at the March 2 ceremony.

Late last month, Salda?a spoke out once again about her co-star controversial tweets, echoing previous comments.

"Never in a million years did I ever believe that we would be here," Salda?a said in an interview for "Awards Circuit," a podcast from Variety, in an episode released Thursday.

"Sad," she said of her reaction to the controversy. "Time and time again, that's the word because that is the sentiment that has been living in my chest since everything happened."

During a Q&A in London the same week, Salda?a addressed the controversy, telling the audience she is "still processing everything that has transpired in the last couple of days, and I'm sad," according to a video shared by The Hollywood Reporter.

Contributing: Pamela Avila, KiMi Robinson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Netflix exec calls 'Emilia Pérez' star's racist tweets 'a bummer'