“Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofía Gascón issued an apology Thursday after online users resurfaced her past posts on social media in which she appears to comment on Muslims, George Floyd and diversity at the Oscars.
“I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt,” Gascón, who became the first openly trans actor to be nominated for an Oscar, said in a statement issued through Netflix.
“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,” she added.
Criticism of Gascón first began Thursday after writer Sarah Hagi shared screenshots of Gascón’s purported past posts on X, which have been translated by Google. The posts have since been deleted.
NBC News did not independently review Gascón’s past social media posts before they were removed. Screenshots circulating online suggest the posts, which were written in Spanish, were made in 2020 and 2021.
“this is all from the star of a movie that is campaigning on its progressive values, you really gotta laugh,” Hagi, who was first to share the screenshots, wrote on X. “stuff like this doesn’t get flagged because you can say whatever you want about muslims, it’s never considered racist. again, this isn’t even all of them.”
Netflix’s “Emilia Pérez, a genre-busting song-and-dance spectacle about a Mexican drug cartel boss who undergoes gender-affirming surgery, was nominated for a whopping 13 Oscars, leading the pack of contenders in this year’s race.
The film, from Jacques Audiard, scored nods in categories including supporting actress, original score, director, international feature film and best picture.
The film has generated buzz since it debuted at the Cannes Film Festival last year. It has already won big this awards season, having taken home four awards at the Golden Globes, including best motion picture — musical or comedy.
But some people have expressed their disappointment at the film’s depiction of trans people. In a blog post published in November, GLAAD said the film is a “step backward for trans representation.”
Gascón previously spoke to NBC News about how she helped Audiard shape the film’s transgender storyline.
“I’m one of the few people on the team that speaks Spanish, and I was one of the first to join, so I really got to see the development of this project and involve myself in it,” she said. “I added anything that I could to make it a little bit more realistic and a little bit more aligned with what it was trying to do.”
