‘Emilia Pérez’ Star Karla Sofía Gascón Apologizes For Offensive Tweets About George Floyd, Muslims
Karla Sofía Gascón, best known for starring in the 13-time Oscar nominated film Emilia Pérez, has issued a statement of apology after past tweets labeling the late George Floyd “a drug addict and hustler” resurfaced this week. The old posts also find Gascón disparaging Muslims who live in her native Spain.
“As someone in a marginalized community, I know this suffering all too well and I am deeply sorry to those I have caused pain,” the actor said in a statement via Netflix, where Emilia Pérez can be streamed. “All my life I have fought for a better world. I believe light will always triumph over darkness.”
Resurfaced by journalist Sarah Hagi, Gascón’s controversial tweets go back as far as 2016. One finds the actress sharing her thoughts on George Floyd, a Black man who was murdered by a white Minneapolis police officer in 2020.
“I really think that very few people ever cared about George Floyd, a drug addict and a hustler, 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.” In a separate tweet, she referred to Islam as “a hotbed of infection for humanity that urgently needs to be cured.”
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO – JANUARY 15, 2025: Actress Karla Sofía Gascon attends the press conference to promote the film Emilia Perez at Cinepolis Plaza Carso. on January 15, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo credit should read Yamak Perea/ Pixelnews/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
Hagi captioned her screenshots of the offensive tweets, “It’s so insane that karla sofía gascón still has these tweets up. straight up have never seen tweets this racist from someone actively campaigning to win an ACADEMY AWARD. there are more than a dozen…” She continued in a follow-up post, “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.”
The thespian is the first transgender performer to be Oscar-nominated for Best Actress for her role in Emilia Pérez. Read Hagi’s full thread — including screenshots of more of Gascón’s deleted posts — here.
