Emilia Pérez’s lead actress, Karla Sofía Gascón, recently came under fire for various controversial posts uncovered from her X account earlier in February.
The posts, published in Spanish and first uncovered by independent journalist Sarah Hagi, included senseless Islamophobic takes that suggested Muslims were taking over Spain, attacked the hijab, and bashed the religion as one that “fails to comply with international rights.”
Gascón also posted heinous and racist statements about the murder of George Floyd, appalling anti-Asian rhetoric related to COVID-19, and, horrifically, even seemingly sympathizing with Hitler — writing in Spanish that “he simply had his opinions of the Jews.”
The international film-musical Emilia Pérez, which Gascón stars in, recently took Hollywood by storm. The musical has received 241 award nominations and 97 wins so far, according to IMDb. The film also made big waves with 13 nominations at the Oscars this year — more than any other film.
However, even before Gascón’s controversy, Emilia Pérez was criticized for its representation of Mexican people. Writer Ces Heredia said in LatinMediaCo, “The film, which is supposed to take place in Mexico, be about Mexicans, and show the country’s most painful, modern problem, features exactly one Mexican actress.”
Mexican screenwriter Héctor Guillén said in a post on X that “Mexico hates Emilia Pérez.” He branded it as a “racist, eurocentric mockery” and suggested the film’s French director, Jacques Audiard, trivializes the deaths of 500,000 Mexicans at the hands of a drug war.
Despite all these inciting incidents, Emilia Pérez continues to be rewarded by the industry.
More than a week after Gascón’s inflammatory remarks made headlines, and as the film continued to hurt Mexican sentiments, Emilia Pérez still won three awards at the Critics Choice Awards, including Best Foreign Language Film and Best European Film at the prestigious Spanish Goya Awards.
Though some reports suggest that Gascón has been dropped from the Oscar campaign, there hasn’t been any official communication that indicates the lead actress was cut from the film’s Oscar campaign following the resurfaced tweets.
Audiard “disavowed” Gascón and stood up for his film, while co-star Zoe Saldaña had other thoughts. The actress publically shared that she was still processing Gascón’s comments and condemned bigotry. However, she didn’t want the social media posts to “take the joy out of her experience as an Oscar nominee.”
As Emilia Pérez and its lead actress continue to receive accolades and nods, there is a bigger question about the industry’s commitment to accountability and careful storytelling. Do award races matter more than the discriminatory comments of some film members? Is Islamophobia or racism taken as a serious threat in the industry? Are stories portrayed with due diligence and care?
Hollywood has a big platform that often shapes perspectives through the content it releases and the stars it creates. When the messaging of recent productions and the views of its leading stars lie on the negative rhetoric that ostracizes groups of people that have been historically misrepresented, it can’t be said that the industry is progressing. Islamophobia can’t be awarded. Racism and discrimination can’t be awarded.
As Hagi, the journalist who set off the first domino in Gascón’s long list of documented remarks, shares in Variety, “When someone in a historic position representing a film built on so-called progressive values has a history of racist and bigoted tweets, it exposes the hypocrisy of it all. This isn’t about meaningful representation — it’s just marketing.”