- "Emilia Pérez" star Karla Sofía Gascón has deactivated her X account following backlash over old tweets.
- Fans had highlighted negative tweets that appear to have been posted by Gascón as recently as 2021.
- "I can no longer allow this campaign of hate and misinformation to affect me and my family," Gascón said.
"Emilia Pérez" star Karla Sofía Gascón has deactivated her X account after coming under fire for controversial past social media posts.
The actor, who made history as the first transgender performer to be nominated in the Oscars' best actress category, said in a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter that she apologized for her "erroneous" past opinions and that she had deactivated her account as she could "no longer allow this campaign of hate and misinformation" to affect her or her family.
"I have been threatened with death, insulted, abused and harassed to the point of exhaustion," she added. "I have a wonderful daughter to protect, whom I love madly and who supports me in everything."
In a separate statement via Netflix, the actor acknowledged the "conversation" around her past posts, adding: "As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain."
On January 30, the Canadian journalist Sarah Hagi shared screenshots on X of posts that appeared to have been made by Gascón. Business Insider couldn't verify all the screenshots before Gascón's account was deleted.
The screenshots contained disparaging remarks about Muslims and Islam.
The posts were written in Spanish but translated through Google by Hagi. This led more social media users to search for and share screenshots of other posts that appeared to be from Gascón.
Gascón wrote in other posts, seen by BI, that all religions should be banned. In a post from 2020, the actor referred to the COVID-19 vaccine as "the Chinese vaccine" and said it had a chip inside it.
Variety reported that in a post shared in 2021, Gascón referred to the Oscars ceremony that year as an "Afro-Korean festival" and "ugly, ugly gala." That year Daniel Kaluuya, a Black British actor, and Yuh-jung Youn, a South Korean actor, both won Oscars.
Variety also highlighted another deleted post from 2020 that was shared days after George Floyd's death in which Gascón referred to him as "a drug addict and a hustler."
Representatives for Netflix, Gascón, and the Academy did not respond to requests for comment from BI.
On January 31, Zoe Saldaña, Gascón's costar, said in response to the controversy during a Q&A for "Emilia Pérez" in London: "I'm still processing everything that has transpired in the last couple of days, and I'm sad. It makes me really sad because I don't support [it], and I don't have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group."
Since January 31, Gascón has shared two more statements on Instagram defending herself. On February 1, she appeared in an hourlong interview with CNN en Español, where she broke down in tears while defending herself from accusations of Islamophobia.
'Emilia Pérez' is the most nominated film of the 2025 Oscars
The controversy around Gascón has come after critics of "Emilia Pérez," which won four Golden Globes and received 13 Oscar nominations, voiced their opinions about the film on social media, calling out its problematic portrayal of Mexico and transphobic stereotypes.
Gascón has been one of the film's main defenders.
On Tuesday, the Brazilian publication Folha de S.Paulo published a video interview in which Gascón criticized people who were tearing her down to support Fernanda Torres, one of her competitors for the best actress Oscar.
In response, some sought to have Gascón disqualified from the Oscars, accusing her of breaking an Academy rule prohibiting those involved with a film from sharing public communication that casts a competing movie in a "negative or derogatory light."
Variety reported on Wednesday that Gascón didn't break the rule because she didn't comment on Torres' performance in "I'm Still Here."
