Emilia Perez star Karla Sofía Gascón — the first transgender performer ever nominated for an Academy Award — has penned a lengthy apology amid the continued publicity crisis over the actor’s past social media posts in which Gascón repeatedly insulted Muslims, mocked George Floyd, and ridiculed diversity.
Gascón also appeared on CNN en Español over the weekend, repeatedly breaking down in tears while apologizing for the old tweets that have rocked Hollywood and upended the tight Oscars Best Actress race.
“Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a racist,” Gascón wrote in Spanish in an Instagram post over the weekend.
In the apology, Karla Sofía Gascón confessed to “having a lot to learn,” while also claiming to be a victim of an organized smear campaign targeting the Oscar nomination.
The controversy exploded late last week after Gascón’s old tweets — some of which were posted as recently as 2020 — resurfaced and went viral. The major Hollywood trade publications all ran with the story, giving it an even broader life among Academy voters.
This has created a PR crisis for Netflix, which has been campaigning aggressively for Emilia Perez as final voting is set to kick off this month prior to the March 2 ceremony
In what appears like an effort to contain the fallout, Gascón expressed contrition in the Instagram post.
“What I would like to do first is offer my sincerest apologies to those who have felt harmed for my way of expressing myself at any stage of my life,” Gascón wrote.
“I have a lot to learn in this world, this being my main flaw. Life has taught me something I never wanted to learn: It is clear to me that no matter how much your message is one [thing], without using the correct words, it becomes another.”
Gascón later added: “I cannot fix my past actions, I can only say that today I am not the same person from 10 or 20 years ago, that although I have not committed any crime, I am not perfect either, nor am I now. I only try to learn and be a better person every day.”
In the old tweets, the actor repeatedly attacked Islam, complaining about the growing Muslim population in Spain.
On CNN en Español over the weekend, Gascón repeatedly broke down in tears, apologizing for the old tweets that have rocked Hollywood and upended the tight Oscars Best Actress race.
The actor specifically addressed those comments in the apology, writing that “one of the most important people in my current life and whom I love most is Muslim.”
The controversy over Gascón has overshadowed the wave of positive publicity that greeted the performer’s best actress Oscar nomination — the first time that a transgender performer has been recognized by the Academy.
Emilia Perez co-star co-star Zoe Saldaña — who is the presumed frontrunner in the supporting actress category — issued a statement distancing herself from the actor.
“It makes me really sad because I don’t support and I don’t have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group,” Saldaña said in a statement.
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