EMILIA Perez star Karla Sofía Gascón has arrived to the Oscars after receiving worldwide backlash for previous ‘offensive’ tweets.
Netflix paid to fly the Best Actress in a Leading Role nominee out from Mexico to Los Angeles despite Karla completely derailing her Academy Awards campaign after resurfaced social media posts left the industry disgusted.
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Many called for Karla to be banned from the Oscars after her former comments came to light – and after being MIA from the public in recent weeks, it appeared she wouldn’t be attending after all.
However, Karla confirmed on Monday that whether everyone liked it or not, she would be at the prestigious awards show.
“I’m not sure how I feel, but I’m grateful to be back. I’m grateful to all those who’ve believed in me — to Netflix, the production company and my colleagues.
“We can close this beautiful and difficult path that began three years ago,” she said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
After receiving 13 Oscar nominations, Spanish-language French musical Emilia Perez appeared to be a sure-fire winner to sweep multiple categories.
However, backlash began to boil in January after there were complaints over a movie about Mexican drug cartels being made in France by a French director — and in a light-hearted way.
Mexican screenwriter Hector Guillen commented, “Mexico hates Emilia Perez. Racist Euro Centrist Mockery.
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“Almost 500k dead and France decides to do a musical.”
The film showed Spanish actress Karla playing a drug baron going through gender reassignment surgery to become Emilia Perez.
Karla alleged that any negative comments about the film were being orchestrated by the people behind rival movie I’m Still Here and those backing her rival for the Best Actress gong, Fernanda Torres.
Karla claimed: “There are people working with Fernanda Torres tearing me and Emilia Perez down. That speaks more about their movie than mine.”
A few of days later, a journalist dug up old social media posts by Karla and left fans and the industry alike shocked by the findings.
In 2021, Karla tweeted that “the West should ban Islam” and, a year earlier, described George Floyd, as “a drug addict swindler”.
She also defended Adolf Hitler by commenting: “I do not understand such world war against Hitler — he simply had his opinion about the Jews.”
Karla even insulted the Academy itself, describing the 2021 Oscars as “an ugly, ugly gala” similar to “a Black Lives Matter demonstration”.
BIG FIVE OSCARS NOMINEES 2025
BEST PICTURE
- Anora
- The Brutalist
- A Complete Unknown
- Conclave
- Dune: Part Two
- Emilia Pérez
- I’m Still Here
- Nickel Boys
- Wicked
- The Substance
BEST ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
- Adrien Brody – The Brutalist
- Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown
- Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
- Ralph Fiennes – Conclave
- Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice
BEST ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
- Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
- Karla Sofía Gascón – Emilia Pérez
- Mikey Madison – Anora
- Demi Moore – The Substance
- Fernanda Torres – I’m Still Here
BEST SCREENPLAY
- Adapted Screenplay: A Complete Unknown (James Mangold and Jay Cocks), Conclave (Peter Straughan), Emilia Pérez ( Jacques Audiard; In collaboration with Thomas Bidegain, Léa Mysius and Nicolas Livecchi), Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes), Sing Sing (Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar; Story by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin, John “Divine G” Whitfield)
- Original Screenplay: Anora (Sean Baker), The Brutalist (Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold), A Real Pain (Jesse Eisenberg), September 5 (Moritz Binder, Tim Fehlbaum; Co-Written by Alex David), The Substance (Coralie Fargeat)
BEST DIRECTOR
- Anora – Sean Baker
- The Brutalist – Brady Corbet
- A Complete Unknown – James Mangold
- Emilia Pérezn – Jacques Audiard
- The Substance – Coralie Fargeat
Within hours of the posts coming to light, Karla’s chances of being named Best Actress evaporated and the film’s awards campaign was all but derailed.
Karla’s apology – which many found to be insincere, claimed: “I, myself, am not even aware of having written something negative”, did not help matters.
She then went on CNN Mexico to do an unapproved hour-long interview, without Netflix’s knowledge, to defend herself – which only made matters worse for the star.
It had been reported that her co-stars, including Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez, did not want to be pictured with Karla amidst the controversy.
Selena herself admitted the scandal has “taken away the magic” from her Oscars season.
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