‘Emilia Perez’ Director Breaks Silence on ‘Inexcusable’ Karla Sofia Gascon Controversy

Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard is not impressed with the ongoing drama surrounding one of the film’s stars.

As Karla Sofía Gascón continues to make headlines for a series of controversial X posts that recently resurfaced online, Audiard, 72, said the drama has impacted the conversation surrounding their Oscar-nominated film.

“Very unfortunately, it is taking up all the space, and that makes me very sad,” Audiard told Deadline in an interview published Wednesday, February 5. “It’s very hard for me to think back to the work I did with Karla Sofía. The trust we shared, the exceptional atmosphere that we had on the set that was indeed based on trust. And when you have that kind of relationship and suddenly you read something that that person has said, things that are absolutely hateful and worthy of being hated, of course that relationship is affected. It’s as if you fall into a hole. Because what Karla Sofía said is inexcusable.”

Gascón, 52, raised eyebrows in January 2025 when past social media posts resurfaced online, ranging from 2016 to 2020 and later.

In some of the posts, the actress made derogatory comments targeting the Muslim population in her native country of Spain. She made negative comments about George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in 2020.

She also reportedly made a dig at her Emilia Pérez costar Selena Gomez, calling her a “rich rat.”

Audiard revealed that he has not spoken to Gascón since the controversy, because “right now, she needs space to reflect and take accountability for her actions.”

“She’s really playing the victim,” he said. “She’s talking about herself as a victim, which is surprising. It’s as if she thought that words don’t hurt.”

In a lengthy social media post, Gascón addressed the ongoing backlash by apologizing “to all those who have felt bad about the way I have expressed myself at any stage of my life.”

“I cannot repair my past actions, I can only say that today I am not the same person as 10 or 20 years ago, that although I had not committed any crime, I was not perfect either, I am not even now,” her post continued. “I just try to learn and be a better person every day.”

Instead of thinking about Gascón, Audiard said he is more focused on the film’s other stars, including Gomez and Zoe Saldaña.

“What I don’t understand about this too is why she’s harming people who were very close to her,” he told Deadline. “She’s hurting the crew and all these people who worked so incredibly hard on this film. I’m thinking of myself, I’m thinking of Zoe [Saldaña] and Selena [Gomez]. I just don’t understand why she’s continuing to harm us.”

With less than a month to go until the 2025 Oscars, Audiard wishes he could simply be celebrating Emilia Pérez’s 13 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Saldaña.

For the moment, however, Audiard said “there’s something sad” about the series of events.

“I thought I was coming back here full of enthusiasm and now there’s a sadness that we have to get past, if things aren’t clear, then we need to shed light on them and we’re going to have to spend time on continuing to really defend this film,” he said. “I’m not alone in this business. There’s Zoe. I want to and I’m going to champion and defend her. I would never let her go. There’s my extraordinary crew that worked on this film, with faith and enthusiasm. There’s no way I’m letting go of these people.”