Emilia Perez’s Karla Sofia Gascon Called Out at 2025 Oscars Amid Controversy

The Emilia Pérez cast reunited at the 2025 Oscars after much controversy.

Karla Sofia Gascón did not pose on the red carpet, but she was called out in host Conan O’Brien‘s opening monologue. “Karla, if you are going to tweet about the Oscars, remember my name is Jimmy Kimmel,” the host quipped as he kicked off the Academy Awards on Sunday, March 2, at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theatre.

While Gascón wasn’t seen until the ceremony started, her costars and director Jacques Audiard walked the red carpet beforehand. Best supporting actress nominee Zoe Saldaña wore a strapless burgundy Saint Laurent dress with full length sheer gloves while Selena Gomez wore a crystal-embellished blush gown from Ralph Lauren.

Emilia Pérez was at one point a frontrunner for awards season, leading the pack with 13 Academy Award nominations, a record for a non-English film and one nomination away from the all-time record for most nods. It was considered a frontrunner for Best Picture and made history when star Gascón became the first openly trans woman to receive a best actress nod.

The Spanish-language musical drama follows Gascón as a Mexican mob boss who hires a lawyer (Saldaña) to help her fake her death and undergoes gender-affirming surgery. Gomez plays the gangster’s wife, who believes her husband is dead.

There were some controversies about the film’s use of A.I., Mexican stereotypes and the depiction of trans people, but it was ultimately Gascón’s old posts via X (formerly Twitter) that derailed the awards season campaign.

Gascón’s offensive tweets from 2020 and 2021 — in which she allegedly made derogatory comments about Islam, George Floyd, increased diversity at the Oscars and allegedly called Gomez a “rich rat” (she later denied writing that) — were unearthed in early January. She apologized and deleted her X account before going on a series of interviews that were not in connection with Netflix, which owns the distribution rights to the film.

“I cannot step down from an Oscar nomination because I have not committed any crime nor have I harmed anyone,” Gascón told CNN last month. “I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am.”

She also offered her “most sincere apologies to all the people who may have felt offended.”

In the wake of the controversy, her costars have remained steadfast in their support of the movie they made, while also making it clear they don’t support Gascón’s statements. “I’m allowing myself to still experience that joy because we did come together as a team,” Saldaña told the Los Angeles Times. “But we are also individuals who are responsible for everything that we say and everything that we do. … I do not support any negative rhetoric of racism and bigotry towards any group of people. That is what I want to stand for.”

Director Jacques Audiard revealed he hadn’t reached out to Gascón amid her flurry of interviews. “I’m not getting in touch with her because right now she needs space to reflect and take accountability for her actions,” he told Deadline in early February. “She’s talking about herself as a victim, which is surprising. It’s as if she thought that words don’t hurt.”

After the director’s interview, Gascón shared via Instagram that she was stepping away from the awards season campaign: “Following Jacques interview that I understand, 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. I sincerely apologize to everyone who has been hurt along the way.”

Gascón was absent from the Critics Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and BAFTAs following the controversy.

She made her red carpet return at the Cesar Awards in France on Friday, February 28.