Zoe Saldaña Addresses Emilia Pérez’ Costar Karla Sofía Gascón’s Tweet Controversy: ‘I’m Sad’

During a Q&A in London on Friday, per The Hollywood Reporter, the actress reacted to her costar’s controversial tweets, in which Gascón — who is the first openly transgender actor to be nominated for an Oscar — appeared to reveal bigoted and hateful views.

“I’m still processing everything that has transpired in the last couple of days, and I’m sad,” said Saldaña, who was joined by Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard and songwriters-composers Camille and Clément Ducol. (THR reports that Gascón was originally set to attend the Q&A as well.)

“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,” she continued. “I can only attest to the experience that I had with each and every individual that was a part, that is a part, of this film, and my experience and my interactions with them was about inclusivity and collaboration and racial, cultural and gender equity. And it just saddens me.”

“It saddens me that we are having to face this setback right now,” Saldaña added. “But I’m happy that you’re all here and that you’re all still showing up for Emilia because the message that this film has is so powerful and the change that it can bring forward to communities that are marginalized day in and day out is important. And all that I can attest is that all of us that came together to tell this story, we came together for love and for respect and curiosity, and we will continue to spread that message. That’s all we can say right now. Thank you.”

Saldaña’s comments come after Gascón apologized for her past social media posts and subsequently deactivated her X account on Friday.

The Spanish actress’ past X posts, which resurfaced earlier this week, featured controversial remarks about George Floyd, Muslims, and diversity at the Oscars.

Gascón apologized in a statement, per TMZ, 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.”

She went on to share a lengthy statement with The Hollywood Reporter, in which Gascón referred to the backlash as a “campaign of hate and misinformation,” while also apologizing for her “erroneous” past opinions.

“I’m sorry, but I can no longer allow this campaign of hate and misinformation to affect me and my family, so at their request I am closing my account on X,” she wrote in part. “I have been threatened with death, insulted, abused and harassed to the point of exhaustion. I have a wonderful daughter to protect, whom I love madly and who supports me in everything.”

“As part of this society, I have expressed my disagreement or agreement with all the related issues that have touched me and of which I have had an opinion, often erroneous, which has changed throughout my own experience,” Gascón continued, adding that she has “defended each and every one of the minorities in this world and supported freedom of religion and any action against racism and homophobia in the same way that I have criticized the hypocrisy that underlies them, because the first thing I am critical of is myself.”

See her full statement, here.

Meanwhile, Gascón shared another lengthy statement on her Instagram on Saturday. She posted a photo of a Nichiren Buddhist symbol, and added the words, per Variety’s translation: “As with Emilia Pérez: We can all do better. Me too.”

“THEY ALREADY WON. The first thing I’d like to do is ask for the most sincere forgiveness from those who feel bad about the way I’ve expressed myself at any stage of my life,” Gascón began in her caption. “I have many things to learn in this world, the forms [in which I learn] are my biggest defect. Life has taught me something I never wanted to learn: it’s clear to me that no matter how much my message is my message, without using the proper words, [the message] can convert into another.”

“I have gone from living a normal life to a life at the top of my profession in just six months, now my responsibility is very great because my voice not only belongs to me but to many people who feel represented and hopeful by or with me,” she continued, before opening up about how practicing Nichiren Buddhism has changed her.

While the Oscar nominee went on to say she’s “not the same person” she was a decade ago, many of her social media posts were shared after 2020.

As Gascón continued, she claimed that she’s “not a racist” and said one of the “most important people” in her life is Muslim, before writing that she “will never support wars, religious extremism or the oppression of races and peoples.”

“They have created posts as if it were me insulting even my colleagues,” she said. “Things that I wrote to glorify as if they were criticisms, jokes as if they were reality, words that without the background only seem like hate. Everything as long as I don’t win anything and I sink.”

Gascón concluded her post with a quote from her mom that read: “I care very little whether you win anything, I just care about you being okay and that no one will harm you,” she said, before recalling her response. “‘Mother, this life has put me here to send a message of hope and love to this world, I will do it.'”

The controversy comes amid awards season, during which Emilia Pérez has received numerous accolades despite also being met with widespread criticism.

The Netflix film is up for a whopping 13 Oscars for the upcoming 2025 ceremony next month — the most out of any film this year. Gascón and Saldaña are both nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, respectively, while Emilia Pérez was also recognized in other major categories, including Best Picture, Best Director for Audiard, Best International Film and more.