Zoe Saldaña made a public apology to viewers, fresh off her Oscar win for Emilia Pérez.
Social media users were left outraged over her apology, calling it a “dumb way to try to avoid criticism.”
At the 97th Academy Awards on March 2, Saldaña picked up the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Emilia Pérez.
Holding her Oscar award in her hand, Zoe Saldaña made a public apology for leaving Mexicans “offended”
The actress, 46, gave an emotional speech and spoke about her upbringing while accepting the award.
Calling herself a “proud child of immigrant parents,” she said, “I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I will not be the last.”
Shortly after accepting the award, Saldaña said she was “sorry” that many Mexicans felt “offended” by the movie.
Her statement came after a Mexican reporter confronted her for the “really hurtful” portrayal of Mexico, calling it the “heart” of the movie.
“What would you say about the heart of this movie, but also the topic [that] is really hurtful for us Mexicans?” the reporter asked.
“I’m very, very sorry that you and so many Mexicans felt offended,” Saldaña responded. “That was never our intention.”
Saldaña said the heart of the movie was not Mexico but was a group of “very universal women”
The actress said the movie came “from a place of love,” and she doesn’t share the same opinion as the reporter.
She explained that the “heart” of the movie was not Mexico. “We weren’t making a film about a country. We were making a film about four women,” she added.
Describing them as “very universal women” struggling to survive “systemic oppression,” she said these people can be found anywhere in the world.
Zoe Saldaña says she’s sorry Mexicans felt offended by ‘Emilia Pérez’, but she doesn’t think it’s offensive. pic.twitter.com/HG5goEgXsZ
— Mr. Pop (@MrPopOfficial) March 3, 2025
“These women could have been Russian, could have been Dominican,” she continued, “could have been Black from Detroit (…).”
Nevertheless, the actress said she was open to sitting down for a chat with “all of [her] Mexican brothers and sisters” about how the film could have been “done better.”
Many social media users weren’t happy with her remarks, with one saying, “This is not even an apology, it’s a ‘sorry you feel that way but you are wrong.’”
“Oh so um maybe not the right thing to say to a bunch of angry latinos but ok,” a social media user said
“Its a very tone deaf apology,” one commenter said. “The disappearance in Mexico is an actual issue down there. Its part of the movie. To downplay it by saying it could take place in Detroit, Israel, Gaza is very asinine.”
“She already won her Oscar and that’s enough for her, ridiculous old woman with her whining,” read the translation of one comment.
“This is such a dumb way to try to avoid criticism, I’m sorry,” said another. “Then why would you go and pick a culture you’re not familiar with if it’s not really relevant for your story? Why making it difficult for yourself to build sets, to translate dialogues and songs, to do all this work if the movie would be the same?”
“I need a 5-year break from Zoe Saldaña after this awards season lmao,” quipped another.
Saldaña played the role of a lawyer in the Oscar-nominated film Emilia Pérez.
The musical drama Emilia Pérez tells the story of a Mexican cartel kingpin (played by Karla Sofía Gascón) who undergoes a gender-affirming surgery with the help of her lawyer (played by Saldaña).
French director Jacques Audiard faced immense criticism when he said he didn’t do much research on Mexico prior to making the film.
“I didn’t study much,” he told NBC News with the help of a translator. “What I had to understand, I knew.”
Mexican actor and singer Mauricio Martínez criticised the director—whom he described as a “Frenchman who has never set foot in Mexico”—for publicly stating that he didn’t need to research for the film.
When Mexicans tell you that a movie “is portraying a Mexico full of stereotypes, ignorance, lack of respect, and is profiting from one of the most serious humanitarian crises in the world (mass disappearances in Mexico)… maybe.. Just maybe, believe Mexicans,” the outraged Mexican star said.
The fact that the actors don’t even speak Spanish is “the least of the problematic issues,” he added.
The musical drama tells the story of a Mexican drug lord who undergoes a gender-affirming surgery
A film critic also tweeted in November that the “lack of information” makes the movie “insensitive.”
“We don’t want a white French director to portray the violence we have to face every day,” she wrote. “I’m not opposed to foreign artists making films about other countries, as long as they have good research, and EMILIA PÉREZ didn’t have that.”
French director Jacques Audiard faced immense criticism for his depiction of Mexican cartels and their victims
Following widespread criticism, Audiard addressed the criticism about his depiction of Mexican cartels and their victims.
He said he never claimed he wanted to create a “realistic work” and would “do a documentary” if he wanted to.
“But then there would be no singing and dancing [in a documentary],” he told Deadline in February.
“In night markets in Mexico City, one also doesn’t sing and dance. You have to accept that is part of the magic here,” he said as he described his film as “an opera” and not “criticism of anything about Mexico.”
Social media users said they didn’t want to see a “white French director” portraying Mexico without adequate research
Controversy surrounded the film since the Academy Awards announced that it was an Oscar contender.
Netizens slammed the lead actress Gascón, who made history as the first transgender woman to receive a Best Actress nomination, for her controversial tweets from the past. Internet sleuths previously demanded she be stripped of her Oscar nomination.
Some of the since-deleted posts went as far back as 2016, and they touched upon subjects like Islam, racism, and specifically George Floyd.
Lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón also faced backlash for her controversial tweets from the past
“Is it just my impression or are there more muslims in Spain?” she asked in a 2020 tweet.
She claimed in the post that she was seeing “more women with their hair covered and their skirts down to their heels” while picking up her daughter from school.
“Next year instead of English we’ll have to teach Arabic,” she added.
“What a disgusting response,” one said about Saldaña’s apology
