Netflix has distanced itself from Emilia Perez star Karla Sofía Gascón after the Oscar-nominated actor faced backlash over resurfaced derogatory tweets.
The 52-year-old actor is in contention for Best Actress at the Academy Awards, for her role as a transgender crime boss in the polarising Netflix musical.
However, in the past week, her awards campaign has been derailed by backlash to several offensive tweets she made over the past five years, including posts about George Floyd, Islam and diversity at the Oscars.
Gascón had previously issued multiple apologies for the posts, and appeared in an hour-long interview with CNN en Español in which she broke down in tears as she answered questions about her social media history, telling interviewer Juan Carlos Arciniegas that she was “not a racist”.
Netflix, the film’s distributor, has reportedly removed Gascón from promotional emails and plans to edit the film’s posters to give Zoe Saldana more prominence, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The publication has also reported that Netflix will not cover any of Gascón’s travel fees to promote the film or her styling for appearances at these events.
It said that Gascón would not be flying to Los Angeles this week from her home in Spain for the pre-Oscars promotional campaign. The star had a planned itinerary including major events such as the AFI Awards luncheon on Thursday (6 February), the Critics Choice Awards on Friday (7 February), the Directors Guild of America Awards and the Producers Guild of America Awards on Saturday (8 February). Gascón is no longer expected to attend the events.
The Independent has contacted Netflix and Gascón’s representatives for comment.
Gascón made history last month as the first transgender person to be nominated in an Oscars acting category. Emilia Perez is up for 13 awards at this year’s Oscars, with Gascón’s co-star Saldana currently the favourite to win Best Supporting Actress.
Asked by CNN if she would renounce her Oscar nomination, Gascón said: “I cannot renounce a nomination because what I have done is a job and what is being valued is my acting work.” (Per a translation by THR.)
“I cannot step down from an Oscar nomination because I have not committed any crime nor have I harmed anyone,” she continued. “I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am."
She addressed the tweet about Floyd, whose murder by a white police officer in 2020 ignited widespread Black Lives Matter protests. Gascón had described Floyd as a “drug addict and a hustler” in a tweet, writing that “his death has served to highlight once again that there are those who still consider Black people to be monkeys without rights and those who consider the police to be murderers. All wrong.”
Gascón told CNN that her tweet had been misinterpreted: "He was a person who had been in a very difficult situation in his life and no one had helped him, and suddenly he becomes a symbol of a cause and everyone loved him.
"But for someone to think that … I have ever insulted a person because of their skin colour, I do not allow that to anyone, to anyone.”
Referencing several tweets that have been condemned as Islamophobic, Gascón said she had been voicing criticism of radical Islam, and had not caused harm to anyone.
She said she had a relationship with a Muslim woman "whom I adore, whom I love and who has taught me so much about respect for people".
The actor offered her “most sincere apologies to all the people who may have felt offended for the way I express myself in my past, in my present and in my future”, before also stating: “I believe I have been judged, I have been convicted and sacrificed and crucified and stoned without a trial and without the option to defend myself.”
Gascón previously told The Independent in a statement: “I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt.
“As someone in a marginalised community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain. All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”
