Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofia Gascón will be attending the Oscars this Sunday (March 2), despite controversy over past tweets.
According to a report from Variety, the film’s producers Netflix will be paying for her expenses to attend the ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Gascón is nominated for Best Actress for her performance in the film, the first out transgender actor to be honoured. It is not known whether she will walk the red carpet or be seated near her co-stars or director.
In late January, past tweets were discovered on Gascón’s account, which expressed derogatory views about Muslims, the 2020 murder of George Floyd, and the Oscars themselves.
In one since-deleted post, she posted a picture of a Muslim family with a woman in a burka, describing the clothing tradition as “deeply disgusting”.
“I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt,” she said in a statement to Variety following the discovery. “As someone in a marginalised community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain.”
She later argued that her tweets were taken out of context, and denied that she was racist. In early February, Emilia Pérez co-star Zoe Saldaña commented on the controversy, saying she was “sad” and “also disappointed”. Fellow cast member Selena Gomez would also talk about the impact of the story, saying “Some of the magic has disappeared.”
Emilia Pérez had been a leading contender at the Oscars with 13 nominations, the most of any film at the awards. The film has won two BAFTAs, three Critics’ Choice Awards, and one Screen Actors Guild Award. Karla Sofia Gascón was not present for any of those ceremonies, although she was thanked by director Jacques Audiard at the BAFTAs.
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