Oscar favorite "Emilia Pérez": The rise and fall of the musical film

Just a month ago, Jacques Audiard's (72) gangster musical "Emilia Pérez" was considered one of the biggest, if not the biggest, Oscar favorite. The work, with stars Zoe Saldaña (46) and Selena Gomez (32) in major roles, received 13 nominations. This is an absolute record for a non-English-language film. Up until now, Ang Lee's (70) "Tiger and Dragon" and "Roma" by Alfonso Cuarón (63) were ahead in this regard with ten nominations each.

But the Oscar chances of "Emilia Pérez" were to be dealt a significant blow when old, racist, anti-Muslim and openly anti-diversity tweets from lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón (52) surfaced at the end of January 2025. A chronology of events.

Awards favorite “Emilia Pérez”

The triumph of "Emilia Pérez" seemed unstoppable. At the world premiere in Cannes last year, the film won the Jury Prize and the award for Best Acting Ensemble. Streaming giant Netflix subsequently acquired the distribution rights to the French film for a reported eight million US dollars, reported "Variety" .

Numerous other awards - including four Golden Globe Awards and five European Film Awards - followed. Netflix was thus awarded the Oscar in the top category of "Best Film" for the first time at the 97th Academy Awards, which took place on the night of March 2nd to 3rd.

Lead actress Gascón is also the first openly trans actress to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress - and has already made film history.

Old tweets become Karla Sofía Gascón's downfall

As already mentioned at the beginning, in the middle of the Oscar campaign, old tweets that Gascón had posted on the short message service X between 2016 and 2023 burst onto the scene.

One of these tweets, which the actress posted in November 2020, read, according to the Hollywood Reporter : "Excuse me, is it just my impression or are there more and more Muslims in Spain? Every time I pick up my daughter from school, there are more women with headscarves and skirts that reach down to their ankles. Maybe next year we will have to teach Arabic instead of English."

In another post, she referred to American George Floyd, whose murder by white police officers sparked nationwide protests in the United States in 2020. Floyd called Gascón "a drug addict and a gangster."

Half-hearted apologies and the suggestion of a conspiracy

There was a public outcry. "Emilia Pérez" star Gascón subsequently stopped attending prestigious award ceremonies such as the BAFTAs or the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Netflix also excluded the actress from the Oscar campaign for "Emilia Pérez" and stopped paying for things she usually does, such as her travel expenses or outfits for awards ceremonies, reported "Variety" .

Gascón's co-stars also reacted. Marvel star Zoe Saldaña, who was also nominated for an Oscar for "Emilia Pérez," said during a question and answer session in London, according to Vanity Fair : "I have zero tolerance for negative rhetoric towards people of any group."

Gascón herself responded with an apology, initially explaining, among other things, that she had used social media as a "diary" in the past and that her views on Muslims had evolved, as reported by the Los Angeles Times, among others.

She has repeatedly suggested in public statements that the dissemination of her old tweets was part of a smear campaign against her. She told CNN en Español : "I believe I have been condemned. I have been condemned, sacrificed, crucified and stoned, without trial and without the opportunity to defend myself."

She deleted her X-account.

With regard to this year's Oscars, it is therefore more than questionable whether "Emilia Pérez" will live up to its status as favorite. However, a win in the categories "Best International Film", "Best Make-up" and "Best Hairstyles" as well as for Saldaña as "Best Supporting Actress" still seems within the realm of possibility.

Karla Sofía Gascón will also attend the Oscars at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles after previously skipping awards shows. According to a report in the US film magazine "Variety", Netflix will cover the costs of her participation. It is currently unclear whether she will walk the red carpet, be available for interviews and sit alongside her co-stars and her director. It also remains to be seen how the audience will react to Gascón.

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