Zoe Saldana Expresses Sadness Over Karla Sofia Gascon Controversy: Never Thought ‘We Would Be Here’

Zoe Saldaña is speaking out about the controversy surrounding her Emilia Pérez costar, Karla Sofía Gascón.

“I’m sad. Time and time again, that’s the word because that is the sentiment that has been living in my chest since everything happened,” Saldaña said during an upcoming interview on Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, an excerpt of which the outlet published on Wednesday, February 5.

“I’m also disappointed. I can’t speak for other people’s actions. All I can attest to is my experience, and never in a million years did I ever believe that we would be here,” Saldaña added.

The Oscar nominee’s comments follow Gascón receiving backlash over controversial X posts that recently resurfaced. The actress appeared to make derogatory comments targeting the Muslim population in her native country of Spain. She also made negative comments about George Floyd, who was killed by a police officer in 2020.

Despite the controversy, Emilia Pérez is up for 13 awards at this year’s Oscars, including a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Saldaña.

For her part, Saldaña remains proud of the film and hopes that people will be able to look past the drama.

“I will always be a hopeful person,” said the actress. “I was not raised to have any negative judgment towards people of any group in any community. While being that person, I can still stand by a body of work that I can be proud of.”

“I’m allowing myself to still experience that joy because we did come together as a team,” she added. “But we are also individuals who are responsible for everything that we say and everything that we do.”

On Wednesday, Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard also addressed the controversy that has engulfed the Oscar favorite.

“Very unfortunately, it is taking up all the space, and that makes me very sad,” Audiard told Deadline. “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.”

On Saturday, February 1, Gascón shared via Instagram, “The first thing I would like to do is to sincerely apologize 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. I just try to learn and be a better person every day,” Gascón continued.