Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón skipped another major awards season event following controversy over her resurfaced social media posts.
The Academy Awards’ first openly transgender acting contender did not join castmate Zoe Saldaña and at the Feb. 25 Oscar nominees dinner at the Academy Museum. Mexico-set musical-thriller Emilia Pérez, starring Gascón, 52, in the titular role, is going into Sunday’s 97th Academy Awards as the most-nominated film, with 13 nods including Best Picture.
The Spanish Best Actress nominee came under fire for old social media posts criticizing Muslim culture, George Floyd, diversity and more. She then deactivated her X account and gave several statements and interviews refuting accusations of racism.
In an apologetic Feb. 6 Instagram post apparently in response to an interview Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard gave condemning her words, Gascón wrote that she hoped her “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.”
Accepting the BAFTA for best film not in the English language at the 78th British Academy Film Awards on Feb. 16, Audiard, 72, gave Gascón an appreciative shoutout in his speech.
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Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee Saldaña, 46, said in January that she was “really sad” about Gascón’s controversy. “I don’t have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group,” she added. Later she said she was “disappointed” in Gascón’s actions but still “proud” of Emilia Pérez.
As reports indicated, Gascón did not appear at several Los Angeles awards events this month, including the Critics Choice Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and other events where she and Emilia Pérez were in contention. But a source told PEOPLE on Feb. 24 that she plans to attend the Oscar ceremony, where costars Saldaña and Selena Gomez will be in attendance. (Reps for Gascón and Netflix, the film’s distributor, did not respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.)
Emilia Pérez is available to stream on Netflix.
See PEOPLE’s full coverage of the 97th annual Academy Awards on March 2, hosted by Conan O’Brien and airing on ABC.
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