The director of Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, has responded to the controversial unearthed tweets of his Oscar-nominated star Karla Sofía Gascón, branding them “hateful”.
The French film-maker, who is also nominated for the best director Oscar, has expressed disappointment over the social media behaviour of Gascón, who had shown bigoted views towards people of colour, Muslims and increased diversity at the Oscars.
“It’s very hard for me to think back to the work I did with Karla Sofía,” he said in an interview with Deadline. “The trust we shared, the exceptional atmosphere that we had on the set that was indeed based on trust. 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. Because what Karla Sofía said is inexcusable.”
When asked if he has spoken to her since, he responded: “I haven’t spoken to her, and I don’t want to. She is in a self-destructive approach that I can’t interfere in, and I really don’t understand why she’s continuing.”
Since the tweets were discovered last week, Gascón has been on the attack with multiple statements and an hour-long interview. While she has admitted to being “deeply sorry” she has also called out a “campaign of hate and misinformation” that has led to her being “harassed”.
“She’s really playing the victim,” Audiard said. “She’s talking about herself as a victim, which is surprising. It’s as if she thought that words don’t hurt.”
After its Cannes premiere, the crime musical Emilia Pérez was picked up by Netflix and since became the most nominated non-English language film of all time at the Oscars, scoring 13 nods including for Gascón as best actress. She became the first out transgender actor to be nominated.
While Netflix has yet to make an official comment, it has been reported that the streamer is trying to push Gascón out of any remaining campaign advertising and event appearances.
The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg has claimed that “tensions are said to be high” between the actor and Netflix and that she will not be flying to Los Angeles for a long list of events and ceremonies this week anymore.
Audiard has said that while he will still participate in events, “there is a sadness” now attached to proceedings.
In the same interview, he also spoke again about criticisms from many in Mexico over the film being viewed as an inauthentic depiction made by foreigners. “What shocked me is that either people haven’t seen the film properly, or they haven’t seen it at all and are acting in bad faith,” he said before later adding: “This is an opera, not a criticism of anything about Mexico.”
Gascón’s co-star Zoe Saldaña, who is the favourite to win best supporting actress for her performance, has also since addressed Gascón’s tweets. “It makes me really sad because I don’t support [it], and I don’t have any tolerance for any negative rhetoric towards people of any group,” she said at an event last week. “I can only attest to the experience that I had with each and every individual that was a part, that is a part, of this film, and my experience and my interactions with them was about inclusivity and collaboration and racial, cultural and gender equity. And it just saddens me.”
In some of the many tweets that were unearthed, Gascón called Islam “a hotbed for infection for humanity that urgently need to be cured” and spoke of diversity turning the Oscars into an “ugly” cross between “an Afro-Korean festival” and a “Black Lives Matter demonstration”.
The Oscars will take place on 2 March.
