Zoe Saldana’s acceptance speech at the 2025 BAFTAs was noticeably cut-short from the BBC’s broadcast after she won Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Netflix musical Emilia Pérez.
The Spanish language musical film follows a fearsome Mexican cartel leader (Karla Sofia Gascon) who enlists Rita (Saldana), an unappreciated lawyer, to help fake her death so she can live as her true self, a woman called Emilia.
While delivering her speech, Saldaña let a few expletives slip, and the BBC—which has a strict no-swearing policy—later stated to The Standard that the edits were made “due to time constraints” to condense the three-hour event into a two-hour broadcast.
Her speech, which has since been shared on the official BAFTAs YouTube account, began: “I was told not to cry by my children, so I’m going to try.”
Saldaña then thanked BAFTA for recognising her: “This is so validating and a true honour, because the very few times that I went for a part with a British accent, the dialect coach was like, ‘This is not going to happen to you’.
“Even though I have a lot of British friends, I find myself repeating their phrases… and I know that I’m a pain in the arse.”
Adding: “BAFTA thank you, this was a creative challenge of a lifetime. How do you begin to even approach a film that not just defies categorisation, and you start by taking the leap with Jacques Audiard. I want to thank my wonderful cast.”
During her speech, she thanked her castmates, including the film’s controversial lead Karla Sofia Gascón. However, when a countdown timer appeared, she reacted in panic, exclaiming, “F**k, f**k, f**k!” before being cut off.
The Avatar star also thanked her family before adding: “Films are supposed to change hearts and challenge minds, and I hope that Emilia Pérez did something like this, because voices need to be heard. Just not my English accent.”
At the press conference, she dedicated her Bafta best supporting actress gong to her trans nephew.
Speaking to journalists, Saldana said she wanted to dedicate the prize to “my nephew, Eli, who is the reason, they (trans people) are the reason, I signed up to do this film”.
The 46-year-old added: “So as a proud aunt of a trans life, I will always stand with my community of trans people.”
A BBC spokesperson said of Saldana’s speech being edited for broadcast: “As in previous years, due to the nature of the show it is broadcast with a short delay, and while we always aim to keep the core sentiment of acceptance speeches, edits have to be made due to time constraints.”
Emilia Pérez also picked up the award for best film not in the English language, having been the second-most nominated title at this year’s Bafta film awards, with 11 nominations in total.
Accepting the prize, the film’s French director Audiard said he was “touched”, and said the prize “was for everyone who worked tirelessly on this film”.
He also paid tribute to his fellow nominees, Ireland’s Kneecap and Brazil’s I’m Not There.
Audiard added that “he would like to thank the wonderful talents”, and also named his “dear Zoe”, and “Selena” (Gomez), who played the wife of the crime boss.
The film uses song, dance and bold visuals to tell its story, and features original songs written by French singer-songwriter Camille and composer Clement Ducol.
The multi-award nominated film, which was the toast of the awards season, became mired in controversy after Gascon apologised for a number of tweets that she posted prior to the film’s release.
After the tweets were brought to light, the actress apologised and maintained that she had not been “racist” in Instagram posts.
Gascon, 52, who was the first transgender actress to win the Cannes Film Festival Award for best actress, was nominated for best actress but did not attend the ceremony.
The film won the Jury Prize and best actress, which was shared by its four female leads, at the Cannes Film Festival.
At the Golden Globes, the operatic musical was the big winner of the night with four gongs, among them best motion picture for a musical or comedy, best non-English language film, Saldana taking home best supporting actress for a motion picture, and Camille, Ducol and Audiard winning best original song.
The awards also saw Gascon nominated for best actress for a motion picture musical or comedy, becoming the first trans woman to be nominated for the gong.
The Standard has contacted BBC for comment.
