A version of this story originally appeared in The Breakdown Newsletter. Subscribe for free and get exclusive awards and industry commentary first.
Someone forgot to tell Karla Sofía Gascón not to provoke Brazillian fans. They make incel “Star Wars” and Snyderverse fans seem like kindergarteners. They will Nancy Drew you to death and drag out all the tweets, photos, and controversies you want to forget. Then again, it didn’t have to be like this.
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After the nominees were announced, there was already drama festering in the Best Actress race. Mikey Madison raised eyebrows when she revealed there wasn’t an intimacy coordinator on the set of “Anora.” Fernanda Torres had to apologize for appearing in blackface in a comedy skit on Brazillian television in 2008.  Her excuse was that it was not in Brazil’s cultural “consciousness” then. Torres’ actions and “excuse” should have been a bigger story, but now, Gascón has trumped both of them.
It started when Gascón, the first Trans actress to be nominated for Best Actress in the history of the Academy Awards, accused people working with Torres of “tearing her” and “Emilia Perez” down in a Spanish-language video interview posted on Jan 21. On January 29th, she walked back the statement, noting, “In my recent comments, I was referencing the toxicity and violent hate speech on social media that I sadly continue to experience. Fernanda has been a wonderful ally, and no one directly associated with her has been anything but supportive and hugely generous.”
This was after Torres had posted an Instagram story thanking Gascón for being so kind to her at an event when she was campaigning in Los Angeles. 
The damage had been done. And Torres’ online fans (she has 4.1 million followers on Instagram alone), who had already campaigned on every social media post you can imagine whether The Academy, Golden Globes, or official media accounts (what Gascón was initially complaining about) went into overdrive. Again, anyone in pop music or Brazillian pop culture could have warned Netflix or Gascón to be careful about this. They were not.
What the Brazillian fans (as well as independent journalist Sarah Hagi) surfaced was a ton of controversial tweets and social media comments from Gascón over the past five years. Not ten years or more, but just the past five years. Regarding the death of George Floyd, she wrote, “I really think that very few people ever cared about George Floyd, a drug addict swindler, but his death has served to once again demonstrate that there are people who still consider black people to be monkeys Without rights and consider policemen to be assassins. They’re all wrong.”
Regarding the 2021 Oscar ceremony she posted, “More and more the #Oscars are looking like a ceremony for independent and protest films, I didn’t know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration or the 8M. Apart from that, an ugly, ugly gala.”
And then a slew and we mean a slew of tweets on the subject of Muslims in Spain and Europe were found by journalist Sarah Hagi. Many of them are hard to justify. 
They even found a tweet of her shading “Perez” co-star Selena Gomez. (Gascón says this tweet was fake).
Within 12 hours of this story exploding, Gascón issued a statement that was short and to the point: “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 deleted her Twitter account hours later. And then…she went on CNN en Espanol. Within 12 hours the interview was translated and posted on CNN’s worldwide online platforms.

Gascón has every right to defend herself if she believes fake posts attributed to her. With her Twitter account no longer active that’s hard to confirm. Moreover, in the new interview, she makes the point that some of these attributed posts were taken out of context and were in jest. That is certainly obvious for a few of them, but the majority? Not so much. She seems most disturbed by the accusations she is racist (who wouldn’t be). And continues to post on Instagram battling that assertion.
Meanwhile, co-star Zoe Saldaña found herself having to comment on Gascón’s posts and actions at a “Perez” Q&A and yesterday at the London Film Critics Circle Awards where she won Best Supporting Actress.
And, no, it appears Gascón has not communicated to the Netflix team in days.
There has to be at least a hint of sympathy for Gascón here. Character assassination over old tweets is not a pleasant experience, but has she made it worse for herself? There were ways to defend herself in a manner that could have quelled the storm significantly. And has she inadvertently thrown “Perez” into an awards season quagmire? Have enough members seen it bubble up in their trade E-mail alerts? Did this crack their social media feeds when events in Washington including a tragic air traffic collision and a tariff war (among other hourly events) are dominating the conversation? Will this affect a movie that has already been criticized in a GLAAD editorial and still rung up 13 nominations? Which has been pushing back growing disdain from the queer community for months? That’s the million-dollar question. Remember, the industry has only demonstrated genuine love for “Perez” so far. And, in some ways, we may be looking at a “Green Book” situation again.
Maybe. Maybe not.
Truth be told, “Perez” is not necessarily the Best Picture frontrunner. It’s one of four films that can “absolutely win” alongside “Conclave,” “The Brutalist,” and “Anora.” Final ballots won’t be available to members until February 11, a little over a week from now. Either this controversy will fester or it will fade. But, it is a headache Netflix, director Jacques Audiard, and the producers of “Perez” certainly didn’t want to endure with BAFTA voting already underway. As for PGA Awards voting, that began on Jan 13 and ended on January 30. It’s likely many members voted days ago before these controversies exploded. Moreover, “Perez” was not seen as a likely PGA Award winner anyway. DGA, SAG ensemble, and BAFTA? Sure. 
In the long run, it may turn out that “Perez’s” Best Picture chances are only slightly dinged.  The film may still become another “Crash” or “Green Book,” a movie critics and a vocal portion of the public dislike but somehow still wins. Or, another nominated film takes the crown on its own merits. As for Best Actress, Cynthia Ervio and Demi Moore? This is your moment. 
What is disheartening is that even if you are not a fan of “Perez,” the fact that Gascón was nominated in the first place should be something to celebrate. Especially in an environment where Transgender people are literally having their human rights torn away from them every single day. And now, it’s a nomination people will also remember for Gascón’s unfortunate statements both past and present. That’s not ideal for anyone. 
“Emilia Perez” is available on Netflix in the U.S., U.K., and select worldwide territories.