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Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón apologizes for X posts about Muslims, George Floyd
Karla Sofía Gascón during a screening of 'Emilia Pérez.'
UPDATE: The actress has shared an official statement addressing her controversial social media posts.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to include Karla Sofía Gascón's statement.
Karla Sofía Gascón has issued a formal statement apologizing for the X posts (formerly tweets) that were resurfaced on Thursday, Jan. 30.
The Emilia Pérez actress wrote (via Variety):
"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."
Below is the original published article.
Emilia Pérez and its lead star, Karla Sofía Gascón, are once again the center of controversy during this awards season.
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The film had already been criticized by both Mexican and trans critics. Namely, Mexican critics argue that Emilia Pérez stereotypes their country and was made with very few cast or crew members who are Mexican. Moreover, trans critics have labeled the Netflix film as regressive and full of transphobic tropes.
The history-making actress is involved in a controversy of her own due to some resurfaced X posts (formerly tweets) shared over the course of three decades — 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s. These posts, highlighted by journalist Sarah Hagi, comment on topics such as Islam and Muslims. In a report, Variety independently translated the posts and verified the automatically translated posts that were being shared across social media.
"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," Gascón wrote on Nov. 22, 2020.
"Islam is marvelous, without any machismo," Gascón said in another X post from Sept. 2, 2020, attached to a photo of a Muslim family with a woman in a burka. "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."
In 2021, the Emilia Pérez actress made several X posts criticizing religion, including one from January of that year that read, "Islam fails to comply with international rights" and that religions "must be banned as long is it does not comply with [human rights laws]."
Another post from August 2021 read:
"I am so sick of so much of this sh*t, of islam, of christianity, of catholicism and of all the f*cking beliefs of morons that violate human rights."
There are several other anti-Islam and anti-religion X posts.
Gascón also shared several X posts about George Floyd a few days after he was murdered by a police officer.
"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," she wrote.
Gascón 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."
In another post, translated through Google Translate by The Hollywood Reporter, Gascón said:
"Let me get this straight, a guy tries to pass off a counterfeit bill after consuming methamphetamine, an idiot policeman arrives and goes too far in arresting him, killing him, ruining the lives of his family and his colleagues, and turning the guy with the bill into a martyr hero."
Out has reached out to Karla Sofía Gascón and Netflix.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
