Earlier this week, Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard faced backlash for his offensive remarks about the Spanish language. He issued an apology—but critics have since targeted the leading actress of the musical crime film for a different reason. Now, transgender actress Karla Sofía Gascón has been slammed for her resurfaced Islamophobic tweets.
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For context, Gascón portrays the titular character Emilia Pérez, a Mexican cartel leader who transitions from male to female to escape a life of crime. The film snagged four Golden Globes and has been nominated for more accolades as awards season gears up. However, Karla’s old social media posts have left a sour taste in fans’ mouths.
Karla Sofía Gascón’s resurfaced tweets showed a pattern of Islamophobic thinking.
On January 30, writer Sarah Hagiold resurfaced concerning tweets from Karla—and many of them were Islamophobic in nature.
One tweet read: “Is Islam a religion of peace? Tell that to the victims of terrorist attacks.”
Another tweet wondered: “Why do we keep pretending that Islam is compatible with Western values?”
Meanwhile, a third tweet in question stated, “Islam is becoming a hotbed of infection for humanity that urgently needs to be cured.”
On social media, the backlash was swift and intense.
this is all from the star of a movie that is campaigning on its progressive values, you really gotta laugh. stuff like this doesn’t get flagged because you can say whatever you want about muslims, it’s never considered racist. again, this isn’t even all of them pic.twitter.com/Cq8rQaiSmm
— sarah hagi (@KindaHagi) January 30, 2025
Karla’s old tweets have since been deleted. But the backlash has been intense.
“This is all from the star of a movie that is campaigning on its progressive values, you really gotta laugh,” Sarah wrote on X. “Stuff like this doesn’t get flagged because you can say whatever you want about muslims, it’s never considered racist. Again, this isn’t even all of them.”
A different X user wrote, “It’s disheartening to see such ignorance from someone in her position,” per The Latin Times.
Someone else agreed, writing, “These comments are unacceptable and promote division.”
Karla has since apologized.
Following backlash over the old tweets, Karla—the first transgender performer nominated for an Oscar for best actress—issued an apology.
“As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain,” she said in a statement through Netflix, per the Associated Press. “All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”
Meanwhile, director Jacques Audiard’s comments about the Spanish language are problematic.
Emilia Perez director Jacques Audiard: “Spanish is a language of modest countries, of developing countries, of the poor and migrants.”
byu/ChiefLeef22 inFauxmoi
During a recent interview promoting Emilia Pérez, Jacques spoke about the Spanish language in a way that rubbed many the wrong way.
“Spanish is a language of modest countries, of developing countries, of the poor, and of migrants,” he said at one point.
Naturally, plenty of people did not appreciate the bold claim.
Jacques previously issued an apology.
Jacques Audiard apologizes to Mexico for "Emilia Perez" pic.twitter.com/It0laljIIm
— WorldwideSelG Media (@WWSGMedias) January 15, 2025
Before making these remarks, Jacques apologized to critics of the film.
He explained that Emilia Pérez is an opera and therefore not “realistic.”
“If there are things that seem shocking in Emilia Pérez then I am really sorry,” he told CNN, per the BBC. “Cinema doesn’t provide answers, it only asks questions. But maybe the questions in Emilia Pérez are incorrect.”
