Karla Sofía Gascón Apologizes for ‘Emilia Pérez’ Controversy

Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón is apologizing for the controversies surrounding her resurfaced social media posts.

The Oscar-nominated Spanish actress, 52, apologized to “everyone who has been hurt along the way” in a message on her Instagram, vowing to be silent and “let the work talk for itself.” Her words captioned a photo of the movie’s cast, including her costars Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez, standing together at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival. 

Gascón deactivated her X account on Jan. 31, after coming under fire for past inflammatory tweets which criticized Muslim culture, George Floyd and diversity at the Academy Awards. She has made various statements to the media and on her Instagram account. The actress also gave a tearful CNN en Español interview on Sunday, Feb. 2, in which she addressed the backlash, saying, “I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am.”

Her new post appears to be in response to a Wednesday, Feb. 5 Jacques Audiard interview with Deadline. The Emilia Pérez writer-director called Gascón’s old posts “inexcusable” and said he hadn’t spoken to her. 

“She is in a self-destructive approach that I can’t interfere in, and I really don’t understand why she’s continuing,” said the French filmmaker, 72, adding that she is “harming people who were very close to her,” including the Emilia Pérez cast and crew. “I’m not getting in touch with her because right now she needs space to reflect and take accountability for her actions.”

Following Audiard’s interview, Gascón wrote on Instagram, “I decided, for the film, for Jacques, for the cast, for the incredible crew who deserves it, for the beautiful adventure we all had together, to let the work talk for itself, hoping my silence will allow the film to be appreciated for what it is, a beautiful ode to love and difference.”

She concluded the post with a heart emoji, writing, “I sincerely apologize to everyone who has been hurt along the way.”

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Emilia Pérez, Netflix’s musical-thriller about a Mexican drug cartel leader (played by Gascón) who transitions into a woman, led this year’s Academy Awards nominations list with 13, the most ever for a film predominantly in a non-English language. 

Gascón’s lead performance nod makes her the first-ever openly transgender acting Oscar nominee. She similarly broke ground with nominations at the Jan. 3 Golden Globe Awards, Feb. 7 Critics Choice Awards, Feb. 16 BAFTA Film Awards and more. The actress will reportedly not be in attendance at many Los Angeles awards events.