Karla Sofía Gascón, the Oscar-nominated trans actor and star of the movie “Emilia Pérez,” is apologizing for her old posts on social media that denigrated Islam and that called George Floyd “a drug addict and a hustler.”
“As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain,” the actor said in a statement Thursday via Netflix, where her film can be streamed. “All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”
Many of the social media posts, which date back to at least 2016, specifically criticize Islam and Muslims. Gascon described Islam as “an infection” and “a deeply disgusting type of humanity.” She also suggested that Islam be banned.
The star’s X account had been deactivated by Friday. She said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that she “can no longer allow this campaign of hate and misinformation to affect neither my family nor me anymore, so at their request I am closing my account on X.”
Her tweets have been raising eyebrows over the past week, especially one where she offered an
assessment of the George Floyd case, involving the death of a Black man by a white Minneapolis police officer in 2020. While the death prompted widespread reckoning with police brutality and racism, according to Gascon, Floyd was a drug addict who “very few people ever cared” for.
The actress also joked that a “Chinese vaccine” for Covid-19 would come with “two spring rolls” and “a cat that moves its hand,” and said a recent Oscars ceremony looked like “an Afro-Korean festival” or “a Black Lives Matter demonstration.”
The social media tweets resurfaced Thursday after being shared online by journalist Sarah Hagi.
Gascon also became embroiled in a row this week after accusing “many people working around” her best actress rival nominee, Brazil’s Fernanda Torres, of talking “badly about me, and Emilia Perez.”
While promoting the film, Gascon spoke of her sadness and exhaustion at becoming a target for vicious online transphobic attacks. She also became embroiled in a row this week after accusing “many people working around” her best actress rival nominee, Brazil’s Fernanda Torres, of talking “badly about me, and Emilia Perez.”
Until now Gascon has been considered a front-runner for best actress, and the film is viewed by pundits as a strong contender to win best picture.
Gascón made history as the first transgender performer to be nominated for the Oscar for best actress, helping make “Emilia Pérez” the most nominated film going into next month’s show. Netflix will be hoping the controversy doesn’t derail the film’s Oscar chances.
The actress was a regular in Mexican telenovelas before transitioning in 2018. In “Emilia Pérez,” she plays both a menacing cartel kingpin and the woman who emerges after the kingpin fakes his own death. Years later, her character contacts the lawyer who facilitated her transition (Zoe Saldaña) to help her reunite with her wife (Selena Gomez) and their children.
Old tweets have come back to haunt celebrities before, including James Gunn, Trevor Noah and Blake Shelton. Each has rebounded, with Gunn getting rehired to direct the third “Guardians of the Galaxy” film for Marvel and the upcoming “Superman” reboot; Noah is hosting this weekend’s Grammy Awards and Shelton was for years a coach on NBC’s “The Voice.”
