Who is controversial Oscar nominee Karla Sofía Gascón?

Karla Sofía Gascón has made headlines in recent weeks after her racist and Islamophobic social media posts resurfaced.

Several of the 52-year-old Academy Award nominee’s tweets were posted between 2020 and 2023 and came to light by writer and X user Sarah Hagi earlier this month.

In one 2020 tweet posted in Spanish and translated by USA Today, Gascón wrote: “Sorry, is it just me or are there more Muslims in Spain? Every time I 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.”

The exposed posts come amid Gascón’s film “Emilia Pérez” being one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2024.

“Emilia Pérez” led the Oscar race this year with 13 nominations, coming up only one nod shy of tying the record for most-ever nominations for a movie. The film also marked the most-ever noms for a project predominantly in a non-English language.

Gascón is up for Best Actress — making her the first openly transgender acting Oscar nominee. Her co-star Zoe Saldaña was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.

The Netflix musical thriller follows a Mexican drug cartel leader (Gascón) who transitions into a woman.

Gascón’s cast and crew have distanced themselves from her amid the controversy, and she will no longer be involved in awards campaigning for the movie, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

The movie’s director, Jacques Audiard, called her posts, which also included criticisms of Muslim culture and George Floyd’s death, “inexcusable.” 

“It’s very hard for me to think back to the work I did with Karla Sofía,” said Audiard. “The exceptional atmosphere that we had on the set was indeed based on trust.”

He added, “And when you have that kind of relationship and suddenly you read something that that person has said, things that are absolutely hateful and worthy of being hated, of course that relationship is affected. It’s as if you fall into a hole.”

Saldaña told Variety earlier this week that the news made her feel “sad.”

“I’m sad. Time and time again, that’s the word because that is the sentiment that has been living in my chest since everything happened,” the star, 46, said. “I’m also disappointed. I can’t speak for other people’s actions. All I can attest to is my experience, and never in a million years did I ever believe that we would be here.”

Gascón has since issued an apology and deactivated her X account on Jan. 31. The Spanish actress posted a second statement on Tuesday to her Instagram, saying she has “nothing to hide” and asking how she should “move forward” amid awards season.

She and “Emilia Pérez” are nominated at the Feb. 7 Critics Choice Awards, at the Feb. 16 BAFTA Film Awards, and, of course, the Mar. 2 Oscars.

So, who is Gascón? Keep reading to find out all about the controversial star.

Who is Gascón?

Karla Sofía Gascón is a Spanish actress.

She became the first transgender star to win the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress. She also became the first openly transgender actress to be nominated by the Academy for Best Actress.

Where did Gascón get her start?

Gascón was born in Alcobendas, Spain, and decided to pursue an acting career at 16 years old.

She earned an acting degree from the ECAM and worked in London on a BBC series for Spanish-language learning and in Milan voicing puppets for children’s shows.

What has Gascón starred in?

In her early days of acting, Gascón appeared in the Spanish soap opera “El súper” portraying a flight attendant.

She also had a slew of small film roles, including “Se buscan fulmontis” (1999), “Me da igual” (2000), “Box 507” (2002), and “Say I Do” (2004).

Mexican filmmaker Julián Pastor convinced Gascón to make the move to Mexico in 2009 and continue her acting career there. She took on several telenovela jobs and had a supporting role in the Mexican box-office hit “The Noble Family” (2013).

She also starred in Telemundo’s International Emmy-winning program “El Señor de los Cielos” and the Netflix Mexican teen drama “Rebelde.”

What has Gascón said about her transition and starring in ‘Emilia Pérez’?

Gascón had completed most of her gender transition by 2018 and went on to publish her memoir, “Karsia, Una historia extraordinaria” (“Karsia: an Extraordinary Story”) under her birth name, Carlos Gascón.

The book doubled as a public announcement of her new identity as Karla Sofía Gascón.

Gascón also spoke to RadioTimes.com last year after “Emilia Pérez” was released and praised Audiard for how he developed the arc of her character.

“My first worry about this role is the motives [to transition from] Manitas to Emilia,” she shared. “Because this changes completely the meaning of the movie, and this was my first Jacques… why Manitas wants to be Emilia?”

Gascón continued, “Because if it’s only for escape from this world [of being a drug cartel boss] then it’s completely different than if this role or this character does this… because she *needs* to be a woman. And I think that he chose the best way for this film.”

Comparing her own journey to that of her character, the star explained, “Because my life experience was the most similar to Emilia, but only physically – in terms of the physical change.”

“Of course, Emilia’s change is much more radical and much more cinematic than in real life. But yeah, we had huge numbers of conversations, and I’m so grateful to Jacques for letting me contribute to the creative process of the character, because I’m perhaps one of the few people that could tweak the Spanish or help build certain phrases and sentences.

“And I’m so happy and grateful that he let me be involved in the creative process,” Gascón added, “not only of the film, but of the character itself, because I was one of the first – or the first – actress that got involved in the film.”

Has Gascón spoken out after her controversial tweets resurfaced?

Gascón issued an apology, telling Variety in a statement last week, “I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt.”

She continued, “As someone in a marginalised 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.”

Gascón also announced that she will not withdraw from the Oscars. 

During an interview with CNN earlier this week, she said, “I cannot step down from an Oscar nomination because I have not committed any crime, nor have I harmed anyone. I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am.”

She added, “I have been judged, condemned, sacrificed, crucified, and stoned without a trial and without the option to defend myself.”