The film ‘Emilia Pérez’, directed by French director Jaques Audiard and starring Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña and Selena Gomez, follows a Mexican cartel leader (Karla Sofía Gascón) who fakes her death to undergo gender affirmation survey. The cross-genre musical, despite already winning four Golden Globes and being nominated for 14 Oscars, is drowning in controversy.

Since its premiere at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, the film seems to have received criticism from the masses. Many Spanish-speaking viewers online have criticized Gomez’s performance due to her portrayal of the character and seemingly poor Spanish-speaking skills. Mexican actors and cinematographers have also criticized how Mexico is portrayed in the film, especially when directed by a person who has never actually been to Mexico and when the entire film is set in France.

Some critics also disapprove of how the film portrayed nuances of trans identity. Despite being centered around a trans-woman and having the lead actress be the first openly trans actress to be nominated for an Academy Award, some critics, including the LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD, have actually called the film “a step backward for trans representation”. Yet when Gascón was asked about members of the trans community condemning the film, she responded by claiming that, “being LGBTQ+, having those labels, does not remove your stupidity, just like heterosexuality does not remove your stupidity.”

Additionally, the film has faced criticism from movie-goers for simply not being that great. While some appreciate its bold choices when it comes to musical pieces, others have expressed their disappointment at the film winning awards over films they see as more deserving, like Wicked, another musical that “Emilia Pérez” beat at the Golden Globes. While I have not watched the film, I want to comment on Gascón’s recent series of blatantly racist and Islamaphobic posts on X.

The postsresurfaced by journalist Sarah Hagi and translated from Spanish, feature sarcastic comments on Islam, women covering up as apparently “DEEPLY DISGUSTING OF HUMANITY” and disapprovement at the apparent increase of Muslims in Spain. She also extends her disapproval to other religions as well, for example, writing on August 16, 2021, “I am so sick of so much of this sht, of Islam, of Christianity, of Catholicism and of all the fcking beliefs of morons that violate human rights”. Apparently, the practice of one’s own religion in peace does not seem like a human right to Gascón.

Not only does she attack religion but race too. Days after George Floyd was murdered by a police officer in the United States, Gascón posted a long thread calling Floyd a “drug addict swindler”. She also criticized the 2021 Oscars, calling it an “ugly, ugly gala”, and writing, “I didn’t know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or the 8M.”

Gascón responded to the backlash she received in a statement to Variety by saying, “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.”

On January 31, Gascón deleted her account on X, claiming that “I can no longer allow this campaign of hate and misinformation to affect neither my family nor me anymore, so at their request I am closing my account on X”/ Yet, she went on to post several more statements on Instagram and commented on the issue in an interview with CNN, denying that she was racist or Islamaphobic and stating that some of these posts were fake or taken out of context. How these posts, clearly targeting people based on their race or religion, could be taken out of context is beyond me.

These offensive posts were only deleted on January 23, 2025, the same day that Gascón got nominated in the Oscars for “best lead actress”. What a crazy coincidence! Quite frankly, I do not believe her apology for a second. These posts were not from 20 years ago and just now resurfaced in time to ruin her career. The most recent of them was posted in 2021. Her apology is deeply ironic since one would expect that as a trans woman, she would perfectly understand how it feels to be constantly criticized, judged, disrespected, laughed at, and killed for such marginal reasons. Yet it seems that she is all for inclusivity until it is towards anyone but herself. If Gascón had basic empathy and “knew this suffering all too well”, she wouldn’t have posted these things in the first place.

Now, in terms of how her statements could affect her and her coworker's possibilities at an Academy Award, I personally believe that Emilia Pérez has a high chance of still receiving multiple wins. Award ceremonies do not seem to be phased by all the other controversy surrounding the film. Yet I seriously doubt “best lead actress” will be one of them. However, the Oscars have had a history of not only nominating but awarding very questionable people.

For example, Roman Polanski won the director Oscar for the film “The Pianist” and received a standing ovation in 2003, despite already pleading guilty in 1977 for raping a 13-year-old and fleeing the United States due to being considered a fugitive. It was only in 2018 that the Academy decided to expel Polanski. Cases like these make me wonder if the Oscars ever really care about the ethics of the people they are awarding or if they only take action due to the social pressure of the movements like #MeToo.

All in all, if the Oscars do not award Karla Sofía Gascóns for her performance, it will not be because they suddenly gained a moral conscience. With fewer and fewer people taking the Oscars seriously every year, it will be because they cannot handle more public disapproval than they already have.