Is 'Emilia Pérez' star Karla Sofía Gascón being erased from Netflix's Oscar campaign?

Being a new face in Hollywood’s celebrity pool is no easy task, and the US system has always been very efficient when it comes to dismissing people. Many rising stars have gone through a familiar trajectory.

Achieve what seems like overnight fame.

Get showered with compliments and accolades.

The person is built up only to be knocked back down when unsavoury details are uncovered from their past.

Backlash soon occurs and everyone turns on the once-promising celeb.  

Karla Sofía Gascón is finding this out the hard way.  

The Spanish actress made history last month as the first transgender person to be nominated in an Oscars acting category, after making the shortlist for Best Actress for her role in Jacques Audiard’s audacious cartel musical Emilia Pérez. 

She and the film were praised, with Emilia Pérez even becoming the most-nominated non-English language film of all time. 

The red carpet was rolled out and Oscar glory was within reach.  

However, at record speed, some of Gascón’s past social media posts were unearthed on subjects including the death of George Floyd, Islam, and diversity at the Oscars.

Gascón apologised for the hateful Tweets – largely from 2020 and 2021 – and said that she would not withdraw from the Oscars race in an interview with CNN en Español. 

"I am neither racist nor anything that all these people have tried to make others believe I am," she said, adding that she did not "recognise" some of the posts that have been found, and that she had not been given an opportunity to defend herself. 

“I believe I have been judged, I have been convicted and sacrificed and crucified and stoned without a trial and without the option to defend myself.” 

She also added that she would not bow out of the Oscar campaign, which is underway. 

"I cannot step down from an Oscar nomination because I have not committed any crime, nor have I harmed anyone.” 

The now controversial actress also addressed the tweet in which she reportedly called her Emilia Pérez co-star Selena Gomez a “rich rat”, refuting its existence. 

"It’s not mine, of course," Gascón stated. "I have never said anything about my colleague I would never refer to her that way." 

Furthermore, she claimed that the allegedly fake social media post attributed to her may have been purposefully trying to damage her Oscar campaign amid the ongoing voting period. 

And Oscar-timed backlash is the worst and comes at a price...

While Gascón may still attend the Goya Awards this Saturday, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that she will no longer be coming to the US for upcoming awards campaigning.

The relationship between Gascón and Emilia Pérez distributor Netflix has soured, as the streamer has invested millions in the film’s awards push and doesn’t much like that the recent controversies may threaten the film's chances at this year's Academy Awards. 

Hollywood Reporter says that there is apparently “no great interest on the part of Netflix to provide the usual courtesies afforded by a studio to an Oscar contender, such as transportation and accommodations, to facilitate her attendance at the remaining award season gatherings.” 

Further adding to tensions is the fact that Gascón’s CNN interview was not sanctioned by Netflix, and the streamer is going full steam ahead by essentially ignoring that Gascón is in the movie. They have scrubbed the actress from 'For Your Awards Consideration' promotional materials.  

An economic and PR necessity considering the all-important final round of Oscar voting set to begin next week? Perhaps.  

But on the human front, it’s a crass move which reveals a crushingly topical irony: the campaign is LITERALLY erasing its transgender lead.