Zoe Saldana isn’t letting the controversy surrounding her ‘Emilia Perez’ costar Karla Sofia Gascon’s offensive social media comments take the joy out of her experience as an Oscar nominee, but she says she still has a lot to process about it.
Saldana earned her first-ever Academy Award nomination in the best supporting actress category for Netflix’s “Emilia Perez,” which became this year’s most-nominated film after it nabbed 13 nominations, including nods for best picture and lead actress Gascon.
But when journalist Sarah Hagi shared screenshots of Gascon’s old social media posts that were Islamophobic and critical of George Floyd, the discourse surrounding the film shifted, something that Saldana – who is one of this year’s Oscars front-runners in her respective category – has had to grapple with both publicly and privately.
“I’m very sad. I’m also disappointed,” Saldana said about Gascon’s comments on Thursday’s episode of Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, adding that she “can’t speak for other people’s actions.”
Saldana said that based on her own experience filming the movie, she knows the cast, crew and filmmakers were “all about inclusivity and collaboration and equality of all sorts, and so it’s sad that we are here.”
“I’m taking it day by day and that joy is starting to kind of come back again,” she said, after noting that she’s “amazed” by the support she’s gotten amid the controversy. She later added that she is “taking my time to process,” and that she feels this isn’t “something that we have to figure out immediately.”
Ultimately, Saldana made it clear that she does “not support any negative rhetoric of racism and bigotry towards any group of people. So that is what I want to stand for.”
Saldana’s comments come after Gascon – who made history last month as the first openly transgender actress nominated for an Oscar in an acting category – apologized for her comments in an interview with CNN en Espanol’s Juan Carlos Arciniegas last weekend, but said she “cannot step down” from the Oscars race.
“I have not committed any crime nor have I harmed anyone,” Gascon told CNN. “I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am.”
Continuing fallout
Jacques Audiard, the French director of “Emilia Perez,” distanced himself from Gascon, telling Deadline in an interview published Wednesday that he has not spoken to the actress since the controversy began.
“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,” Audiard said. “I’m not getting in touch with her because right now she needs space to reflect and take accountability for her actions.”
Audiard said her offensive posts are “taking up all the space, and that makes me very sad,” later adding that the once-trustful relationship he shared with Gascon on set has been “affected” by the “absolutely hateful” and “inexcusable” things she said that have been unearthed.
Originally written in Spanish, Gascon commented at the time on the Floyd case, who died in 2020 after an encounter with police in Minneapolis, writing in part in the now-deleted post, “I really believe that very few ever cared about George Floyd, a scammer drug addict.”
Gascon has since deactivated her X account.
In an effort to salvage “Emilia Perez’s” overall Oscar campaign for the rest of the cast and crew, Netflix is actively distancing itself from Gascon, a source familiar with the campaign told CNN, despite Netflix not yet publicly commenting on the matter.
CNN has reached out to Netflix representatives for comment, as well as a representative for Gascon.
As the Academy Awards ceremony draws nearer – it is set to be held in Hollywood on March 2 – the Oscar campaigns for those nominated will pick back up starting this weekend with a slew of events, including the AFI Awards luncheon, the Critics Choice Awards and several Guild awards. Gascon was reportedly set to attend all of these events, in addition to the Santa Barbara Film Festival on Sunday, but she is no longer expected to attend any of them, the source familiar with the situation confirmed to CNN.
Netflix is not in direct communication with Gascon at this time, the source also said. The actress has not given any indication of her intention not to attend the March 2 Academy Awards ceremony.
New apology
On Thursday evening, Gascon posted a new apology on her social media regarding the matter.
Underneath a picture of some of the cast and crew of “Emilia Perez,” Gascon wrote, “Following Jacques interview that I understand, I decided, for the film, for Jacques, for the cast, for the incredible crew who deserves it, for the beautiful adventure we all had together, to let the work talk for itself,” adding that she hopes her “silence will allow the film to be appreciated for what it is, a beautiful ode to love and difference.”
In her statement, she was referring to Audiard’s interview published in Deadline this week.
“I sincerely apologize to everyone who has been hurt along the way,” Gascon concluded.
Alli Rosenbloom, CNN
