EXCLUSIVEKarla Sofia Gascon tipped to lose Oscar as both Netflix and Emilia Perez director ditch her over scandal
- Gascón is under fire after offensive social media posts she shared resurfaced
- The transgender actress, 52, is nominated for an Oscar for Netflix's Emilia Perez
- The film's director Jacques Audiard has cut ties with the 'hateful' star
- READ MORE: Zoe Saldana breaks silence on co-star's 'racist' posts
Karla Sofía Gascón has torpedoed her chances at a Best Actress win at next month's Oscars after old social media posts criticizing Islam and her Emilia Perez co-star Selena Gomez resurfaced last week.
Making matters worse, Netflix, as well as Emilia Perez director Jacques Audiard, have publicly distanced themselves from the transgender actress.
Industry experts have also told DailyMail.com that Gascon, 52, is unlikely to take home the Best Actress Oscar and that her social media posts, which included comments criticizing the Academy Awards, 'will be hard for voters to overcome.'
In a scathing interview with Deadline, Audiard condemned Gascon and accused her of hurting the cast and crew of Emilia Perez by refusing to stay silent in the wake of her social media scandal.
'I haven't spoken to her, and I don't want to. She is in a self-destructive approach that I can't interfere in, and I really don't understand why she's continuing. Why is she harming herself? Why?' he told the publication.
Karla Sofía Gascón has torpedoed her chances at a Best Actress win at next month's Oscars after her offensive social media posts resurfaced last week
'I'm thinking in this thing of how hurting others, of how she's hurting the crew and all these people who worked so incredibly hard on this film. I'm thinking of myself, I'm thinking of Zoe [Saldaña] and Selena [Gomez]. I just don't understand why she's continuing to harm us,' he continued.
'I'm not getting in touch with her because right now she needs space to reflect and take accountability for her actions.'
Despite his harsh words, Audiard admitted that he had a great relationship with Gascon up until her old social media posts came to light.
'It's very hard for me to think back to the work I did with Karla Sofía. The trust we shared, the exceptional atmosphere that we had on the set that was indeed based on trust,' he said.
'And when you have that kind of relationship and suddenly you read something that that person has said, things that are absolutely hateful and worthy of being hated, of course that relationship is affected. It's as if you fall into a hole. Because what Karla Sofía said is inexcusable.'
He also accused the actress of 'playing the victim' in the wake of the scandal.
Audiard isn't the only one to ditch Gascon, with Netflix essentially removing her from their Emilia Perez Oscar campaign, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The streaming giant has reportedly invested millions in the Spanish musical's awards push after it garnered 13 nominations, including a Best Actress nod for leading lady Gascon, but Gascón will no longer be part of their campaign.
Jacques Audiard condemned Gascon and accused her of hurting the cast and crew of Emilia Perez by refusing to stay silent in the wake of her social media scandal
The director also accused the actress of 'playing the victim' in the wake of the scandal
Netflix reportedly has 'no great interest' in providing Gascon with 'transportation and accommodations' for any of the remaining awards season gatherings.
She will reportedly no longer attend a slew of previously scheduled events, including the Critics Choice Awards, Directors Guild of America Awards, and the Santa Barbara Film Festival.
Variety has also reported that Gascon's image has been scrubbed from a lot of the Emilia Perez promotional material, as Netflix shifts their focus to centering their campaign around Zoe Saldana, who is nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, a number of prominent film-related accounts commented on Gascón being absent from a promotional poster the streamer purportedly released touting the movie's 13 Academy Award nominations, but omitting Gascón's name and image.
'Karla Sofía Gascón has been completely erased from the latest Oscars "For Your Consideration" ad for Emilia Pérez. I wonder why!??' a tweet from @jasonosia read, linking to the poster.
DailyMail.com has contacted Gascon for comment.
Speaking to DailyMail.com, Debra Birnbaum from the awards show predictions website Gold Derby said that it would be hard for Gascon to bounce back from this in time for the Oscars and that Demi Moore is most likely to win Best Actress.
'Emilia Perez had tremendous buzz coming out of the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the jury prize and the stars shared the Best Actress award,' Birnbaum explained.
'And while the film had its detractors, there was also an incredible groundswell of support for the history being made as the first openly trans performer to be nominated for an acting award,' she continued.
'Though voting doesn't begin until February 11, it's going to be hard for her campaign to recover in time to sway public opinion.'
Despite the drama, Birnnaum is still optimistic about Saldana's chance at Oscar glory.
'That's the big question being debated right now: Will voters be able to separate the star from the film?' she said.
'The film's strategists will obviously be doing all they can to stem the damage and make sure it doesn't impact other races that the film was favored to win, like Best Picture and Best International Feature – and especially Best Supporting Actress, where Zoe Saldana has been considered all but a lock.'
Karla is the first openly transgender nominee for the Best Actress Academy Award
Gascon's offensive posts were uncovered by Muslim writer Sarah Hagi and translated into English by Variety
Gascon also body shamed Adele over her weight loss in another resurfaced X post. She speculated the singer, 36, had loose skin on her arms after her body transformation
Gascon has issued multiple apologies and statements since her offensive social media posts first resurfaced.
'I'm sorry, but I can no longer allow this campaign of hate and misinformation to affect me and my family, so at their request I am closing my account on X,' Gascon wrote in the statement via The Hollywood Reporter.
'I have been threatened with death, insulted, abused and harassed to the point of exhaustion,' she wrote.
'I have a wonderful daughter to protect, whom I love madly and who supports me in everything,' she continued.
'I have defended each and every one of the minorities in this world and supported any event against racism, freedom of religion or homophobia, in the same way that I have criticized the hypocrisy that underlies them, because the first thing I am self-critical of is myself,' she added.
The new statement comes on the heels of her first apology, in which she said she was 'deeply sorry' for any 'hurt' and 'pain' she may have caused in tweets she made on X.
Netflix has dropped Gascon from promo material for Emilia Perez and is instead centering their campaign around Zoe Saldana (pictured), who is nominated for Best Supporting Actress
Gascon has issued multiple apologies and statements since her offensive social media posts first resurfaced
The posts were uncovered by Muslim writer Sarah Hagi and translated into English by Variety.
One post, from November 2020 read: 'I'm sorry. Is it just my impression or is there more muslims in Spain? Every time I go to pick up my daughter from school there are more women with their hair covered and their skirts down to their heels. Next year instead of English we'll have to teach Arabic.'
Another post from September 2020 featured a photo of a Muslim family dining in a restaurant in traditional Islamic attire, which included the wife covered from head-to-toe in a black burqa.
'Islam is marvelous, without any machismo. Women are respected, and when they are so respected they are left with a little squared hole on their faces for their eyes to be visible and their mouths, but only if she behaves. Although they dress this way for their own enjoyment. How DEEPLY DISGUSTING OF HUMANITY,' Gascón wrote.
She also posted about George Floyd, whose murder by Minneapolis police, as he protested 'I can't breathe', sparked the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.
Gascón wrote: '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 are both wrong.'
The actress added: 'Too many things to reflect on regarding the behavior of our species every time an event occurs. Perhaps it is no longer a question of racism, but of social classes that feel threatened by each other. Maybe that's the only real difference.'
And even though she hopes to take home the Oscar next month for her role in Emilia Perez, even that revered ceremony didn't escape her criticism in 2021.
'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,' she posted.
She also criticized China during the Covid pandemic, writing: 'The Chinese vaccine, apart from the mandatory chip, comes with two spring rolls, a cat that moves its hand, 2 plastic flowers, a pop-up lantern, 3 telephone lines and one euro for your first controlled purchase.'
Karla also body shamed Adele over her weight loss in another resurfaced X post.
She speculated the singer, 36, had loose skin on her arms after her body transformation in a May 6, 2020 post.
Sharing photos of Adele in glamorous gowns, the Spanish actress wrote: 'COVID passed, and she went overboard with the sleeves, or she went under the knife and they didn't remove the skin from her arms @Adele.'
Responding to the controversy in a statement to DailyMail.com, Gascón said, 'I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt.'
She continued, '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.'
