Karla Sofía Gascón Didn’t Violate Oscar Rules, but More ‘Emilia Pérez’ Controversy Threatens Her Campaign

The internet campaign to rescind "Emilia Pérez" star Karla Sofía Gascón's Oscar nomination over her criticism of supporters of fellow Best Actress nominee Fernanda Torres has caused a new debate over Academy rules.

While there’s been plenty of criticism leveled at Best Picture nominee “Emilia Pérez,” things nearly reached a breaking point on Wednesday. Lead Karla Sofía Gascón, the first transgender performer to be nominated for Best Actress or any acting Oscar, gave an interview to a Brazilian journalist criticizing the blowback she has gotten online from supporters of her fellow nominee Fernanda Torres, which resulted in claims that she violated the Academy’s campaign guidelines.

Gascón told Folha de S. Paulo of the Brazilian star of fellow Best International Feature and Best Picture nominee “I’m Still Here” (per Variety’s translation), “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. You don’t need to tear down someone’s work to highlight another’s. 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.”

Screenshots of the Academy’s Campaign Promotional Regulations vary, with some being outdated. The clause widely being cited points to how Academy members, motion picture companies, or individuals directly associated with an eligible motion picture may not “discourage members to vote for any motion picture, performance, or achievement,” with the suggestion that that is what Gascón had done to Torres and “I’m Still Here” in the interview clip.

An IndieWire source confirmed that Gascón did not violate campaign rules. Meanwhile, in the same interview, she called Torres a “wonderful woman and an amazing actress who deserves all the recognition in the world.” Still, in a statement given to IndieWire, in response to the latest controversy, the “Emilia Pérez” actress clarified her remarks by restating her admiration for Torres, and saying, “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.”

Though this is all in connection to an interview with a newspaper, the debacle showcases the Academy’s ever-adapting approach toward monitoring online Oscar campaigning. After the “To Leslie” controversy two years ago, in which social media posts and private campaign events propelled star Andrea Riseborough toward a Best Actress nomination, the Academy increased promo campaign restrictions, regulating conversation around Oscar voting strategy, decisions, or preferences, as well as eligibility requirements such as inclusion standards.

Furthermore, Gascón’s interview is the tip of the iceberg in terms of quotes and evidence social media users on X (formerly Twitter) and elsewhere are resurfacing. The actress has also made several Islamophobic comments online, as well as false statements about George Floyd, and crude criticism of the Oscars themselves. In “Emilia Pérez,” Gascón plays a Mexican cartel leader seeking redemption after she gets gender confirmation surgery.

This all stems from criticism of how “Emilia Pérez” depicts Mexico, especially coming from an outsider perspective. Supporting actress Adriana Paz is, meanwhile, the only Mexican native with a major role in the film. Gascón’s past comments — as well as one interview with Jacques Audiard where he says in French, “Spanish is a language of modest countries, of developing countries, of the poor and migrants” — have snowballed into a growing public rejection of the film.

The Academy has yet to make a public statement about the campaign to rescind nominations for “Emilia Pérez,” but the public vitriol for the film has reached a point where the group will likely have to add more specificity and nuance to how online chatter can affect decisions around Oscar nominations.