Karla Sofía Gascón Offers an Apology That May Not Be Enough

The Best Actress Oscar nominee is under fire for tweets she made in 2020 and 2021 that disparaged George Floyd, Muslims, and even Oscar diversity.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, “Emilia Pérez” actress and recent Academy Award-nominee Karla Sofía Gascón published disparaging views on Muslims, George Floyd, and Oscars diversity in 2020 and 2021. Today, she released an apology.

In a statement obtained by IndieWire, Gascon wrote, “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.”

As for the “posts that caused hurt,” Variety sought independent translations of her tweets, one of which read: “I’m sorry, is it just my impression or are there more muslims in Spain? Every time I go to 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.”

Gascón also posted a photo of a Muslim family, including a woman in a burka, with the caption, “Islam is marvelous, without any machismo. Women are respected, and when they are so respected they are left with a little squared hole on their faces for their eyes to be visible and their mouths, but only if she behaves. Although they dress this way for their own enjoyment. How DEEPLY DISGUSTING OF HUMANITY.”

Her ire seemed to extend to a number of religions, with later posts reading, “I am so sick of so much of this shit, of Islam, of Christianity, of Catholicism and of all the fucking beliefs of morons that violate human rights.”

Gascón, a Mexican citizen of Spanish origin, also took aim at an American tragedy. Days after Floyd’s murder, 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.”

Gascón also offered a crude take on 2021 Best Picture winner “Nomadland” as well as the Oscars ceremony itself.

“More and more the #Oscars are looking like a ceremony for independent and protest films,” she posted. “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.”

The incendiary posts come as Gascón also faces judgment for claiming the publicity team behind Fernanda Torres and “I’m Still Here” attacked her and “Emilia Pérez” online. “What I don’t like are social media teams — people who work with these people — trying to diminish our work, like me and my movie, because that doesn’t lead anywhere,” according to a Variety translation of an interview published in Brazilian daily Folha de S.Paulo.

“You don’t need to tear down someone’s work to highlight another’s,” she continued. “I have never, at any point, said anything bad about Fernanda Torres or her movie. However, there are people working with Fernanda Torres tearing me and ‘Emilia Pérez’ down. That speaks more about their movie than mine.”

That sentiment also inspired a walkback: “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.”

IndieWire confirmed that Gascón’s statements did not violate Academy regulations for promotional campaigns — but at this point, that may be beside the point. A claimed misunderstanding regarding fellow Best Actress nominee Torres left an unpleasant taste. However, it’s unclear exactly what her statement to “acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts” is meant to communicate.

It doesn’t address, much less apologize, for any of her positions; it also doesn’t directly address her actions. She said she is “deeply sorry to those I have caused pain” — which, with its passive voice, suggests a more eloquent expression of “Sorry your feelings got hurt.”

The actress, and Netflix, are in a very awkward position. Certainly great pains must have been taken to compose that statement, which says little, but to be more direct means further acknowledgment of some vile sentiments. However, they might have done better than to draft a paragraph that constantly returns the spotlight to Gascón: I acknowledge, I am marginalized, I know suffering, I have fought, I believe.

Left out is the same forthright approach to those she hurt: I am sorry.