Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez appeared together at the 2025 Sag Awards amid a controversy surrounding their recent film Emilia Perez.
The Netflix musical, in which both actors starred, has been at the centre of a scandal surrounding offensive tweets posted by the film’s lead actor, Karla Sofía Gascón.
Emilia Perez was up for three awards at the ceremony, which is hosted by the Screen Actors Guild (Sag): Best Supporting Actress (for Saldaña), Best Lead Actress (for Gascón), and Best Ensemble Cast. The movie won just one award, in Saldaña’s category.
Not present at the ceremony was Gascón, who has reportedly been dropped by Netflix from the awards campaign trail, though is expected to attend the Academy Awards later this week.
Saldaña, 46, and Gomez, 32, took to the stage during Sunday night’s (23 February) Sag ceremony to introduce their film, which follows a Mexican druglord (Gascón) who undergoes a gender transition.
"Emilia Pérez was a magical collaboration where we got to sing and dance and explore the journey of being authentically yourself," Saldaña told the audience.
Gomez added: "Emilia Pérez is a ride unlike any other — it's thrilling, it's heart-wrenching, and it's always one fabulously choreographed step ahead of your expectations."
Saldaña continued, "Every once in a while, we get a movie that dares to be unpredictable as life itself, and here she is." A montage of clips from the Spanish-language musical then played on screen.
Emilia Perez was considered a frontrunner for many major awards this year and was nominated for 13 Oscars – a record for a film not in the English language.
However, the controversy surrounding Gascon’s tweets – which voiced offensive sentiments on topics such as Islam, George Floyd, and the Oscars themselves – has seen many people write off the polarising movie’s chances.
The exception to this is in the Best Supporting Actress category, where Saldaña has proved to be consistently successful, and remains the favourite to take home the Oscar on Sunday.
Jacques Audiard, the film’s director, was among those to criticise Gascon, describing her approach to the scandal – involving multiple apologies and an hourlong TV interview – as “self-destructive”.
Since then, Gascon has been absent from the awards show circuit, and has vowed to stay out of the public eye.
“Following Jacques's interview that I understand, I decided, for the film, for Jacques, for the cast, for the incredible crew who deserves it, for the beautiful adventure we all had together, to let the work talk for itself," Gascón wrote in an Instagram post on 6 February.
"Hoping my silence will allow the film to be appreciated for what it is, a beautiful ode to love and difference. I sincerely apologise to everyone who has been hurt along the way.”
