Karla Sofía Gascón remains in the eye of the storm. After several hours of trending on social media for accusing the circle around Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres of campaigning against her, possibly harming her own chances of winning the Oscar, the Spanish actress has faced a new wave of criticism after old posts on her X account (formerly Twitter) surfaced, expressing views against Islam, the Black Lives Matter movement, diversity in the Oscars, and Latin Americans.
The messages, posted between 2020 and 2021, had been rescued by the journalist Sarah Hagi and have already been deleted by Gascón himself, after they began to go viral on social media.
What were the old 'tweets' from Karla Sofía Gascón that are now causing her to receive accusations of being racist?
Among the tweets, one from November 2020 stands out where he mentions his perception of an increase in the Muslim population in Spain. Another one, from September of that same year, makes ironic and critical comments about the use of the burqa in a photograph of a Muslim family in a restaurant.
Another message from January 2021 stated that Islam does not comply with human rights and suggested that religions should be prohibited if they do not respect these principles.
His criticisms were not limited to Islam, as in August of that year he also expressed negative opinions about Christianity and Catholicism.
In addition to her comments on religion, Emilia Pérez's protagonist also wrote an extensive thread about George Floyd, the young man murdered by a police officer in Minnesota in 2020, an event that sparked massive protests across the United States. In one of her tweets, the actress stated that "very few people really cared about George Floyd, an addict and a scammer," but also pointed out that his death exposed the existing racism in society. However, in the same message, she criticized those who viewed the police as murderers.
As if that weren't enough, the actress also shared her thoughts on the 2021 Oscars ceremony, where Nomadland won the Best Picture award. She criticized the event, arguing that it increasingly seemed like an independent film and protest gala, comparing it to demonstrations from movements like Black Lives Matter or International Women's Day.
These comments have sparked a strong reaction on social media and have led critics such as Vanity Fair writer Chris Murphy to question her nomination for Best Actress at the Oscars, especially for downplaying the death of Floyd, which sparked global protests against racism.
The new wave of controversy surrounding Gascón and the film Emilia Pérez also arises just a few days after the director, the French Jacques Audiard, stated to the media outlet Konbini that “Spanish is a language of emerging countries, a language of modest countries, of the poor and of migrants.”