As the biggest frontrunner for the Supporting Actress categories this award show season, Zoe Saldaña has a lot riding on Emilia Pérez‘s Oscar campaign. But, as most of you already know, the movie has been riddled with controversy and backlash since day one. Most recently, resurfaced tweets from the star of the movie Karla Sofía Gascón have not only outraged fans but have fundamentally risked the movie’s chances at their 13 Academy Award nominations.
But as Gáscon continues to try to clear her name from the accusations of islamophobia and racism from the tweets, the rest of the Emilia Pérez cast is speaking out.
In a new interview with Variety, Saldaña gave her reaction to the scandal. “I’m sad,” the Avatar star told the outlet. “Time and time again, that’s the word because that is the sentiment that has been living in my chest since everything happened.”
“I’m also disappointed,” she added. “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.”
Prior to Saldaña’s interview, Gáscon spoke to CNN Español in a lengthy 55-minute interview defending herself from her tweets, suggesting that the opinions she wrote aren’t actually her own. In it, she also said Saldaña and their co-star Selena Gomez were supporting her “200%.”
When probed about the statement, Saldaña didn’t outright address her co-star and took a “long blink” before responding. “I do not support any negative rhetoric of racism and bigotry towards any group of people,” she said. “That is what I want to stand for.”
By the end, Saldaña was celebrating the movie and explaining the “joy” she still feels about it.
“I will always be a hopeful person,” she said. “I was not raised to have any negative judgment towards people of any group in any community. While being that person, I can still stand by a body of work that I can be proud of.”
“I’m allowing myself to still experience that joy because we did come together as a team,” she explained. “But we are also individuals who are responsible for everything that we say and everything that we do.”
In other words, while Saldaña by no means defended Gáscon, she didn’t downright denounce her behavior directly either. To many, it could be seen as a neutral stance on the situation – something that will surely be considered when Oscar voters cast their ballots.
Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard, however, wasn’t afraid to take a stance against his star earlier this week.
“I haven’t spoken to her, and I don’t want to,” the French director told Deadline. “She is in a self-destructive approach that I can’t interfere in, and I really don’t understand why she’s continuing. Why is she harming herself? Why? I don’t understand it, and what I don’t understand about this too is why she’s harming people who were very close to her. I’m thinking in this thing of how hurting others, of how she’s hurting the crew and all these people who worked so incredibly hard on this film. I’m thinking of myself, I’m thinking of Zoe and Selena. I just don’t understand why she’s continuing to harm us.”
Knowing how serious and offensive Gáscon’s comments were online, Gáscon’s reaction is almost refreshing.
On Feb. 4, insiders at Variety confirmed Netflix has distanced itself from Gáscon and that she will no longer be attending the second leg of their campaign. Gáscon will no longer be attending the AFI Awards luncheon, the Critics Choice Awards, the Directors Guild of America Awards, the Producers Guild of America Awards, and the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Her attendance at the 2025 Oscars is still to be determined.
Before you go, click here to see celebrity co-stars who allegedly hated each other in real life.
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