Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón has deactivated her Twitter account after apologizing for past tweets containing racist and Islamophobic views. Since the apology, even more posts have resurfaced, including one in which she says Hitler “simply had his opinion of the Jews.”
On Thursday, the first openly trans actor to be nominated for an Oscar addressed the resurfaced tweets in a statement to Variety, saying: “I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt. As someone in a marginalized 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.”
Many of the tweets (translated from Gascón’s native language of Spanish) were first resurfaced by journalist Sarah Hagi. The posts address diversity at the Oscars, the George Floyd shooting, and Muslims.
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In one particularly topical tweet, she criticized the 2021 Academy Awards for making an effort at diversity: “More and more the #Oscars are looking like a ceremony for independent and protest films, I didn’t know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or the 8M. Apart from that, an ugly, ugly gala.”
In another, Gascón addressed the 2020 killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minnesota police: “I really think that very few people ever cared about George Floyd, a drug addict swindler, but his death has served to once again demonstrate that there are people who still consider Black people to be monkeys Without rights and consider policemen to be assassins. They’re all wrong.”
There were also multiple posts containing Islamophobic views. “Islam is becoming a hotbed of infection for humanity that urgently needs to be cured,” Gascón wrote in 2016.
“Until we ban religions that go against European values and violate human rights, such as Islam, under the protection of freedom of worship, we will not end part of the huge problem we face,” she added in 2020. “Faith manipulates those who cling to faith.”
After the apology, more posts resurfaced, including the aforementioned defense of Hitler. “This is the same old story, ‘black slaves and women in the kitchen,’” it reads. “But it is my opinion and it must be respected. I do not understand so much world war against Hitler, he simply had his opinion of the Jews. Well, that’s how the world goes.”
An additional tweet from 2022 allegedly attributed to Gascón takes aim at her co-star Selena Gomez, translated as “She’s a rich rat who plays the poor bastard whenever she can and will never stop bothering her ex-boyfriend and his wife.”
Prior to becoming the first openly trans actor to receive an Oscar nomination, Gascón received the same distinction at the Golden Globes and won the best actress award at the Cannes Film Festival alongside co-stars Zoe Saldaña, Gomez, and Adriana Paz.
it’s so insane that karla sofía gascón still has these tweets up. straight up have never seen tweets this racist from someone actively campaigning to win an ACADEMY AWARD. there are more than a dozen… pic.twitter.com/1rcNzkJXuo
— sarah hagi (@KindaHagi) January 30, 2025
i’m not exaggerating when i say there so many tweets. spanning years!! it’s really something else pic.twitter.com/h70hGajBxu
— sarah hagi (@KindaHagi) January 30, 2025
Karla Sofía Gascón has now deactivated her account after even more offensive posts resurfaced, including one defending Hitler. pic.twitter.com/46J9StfUmL
— DiscussingFilm (@DiscussingFilm) January 31, 2025
