In August, when I had my first interview with Karla Sofía Gascón, the star of Emilia Pérez, she made it clear that she wasn’t one to shy away from conflict.

‘Emilia Pérez’ and the New Era of Online Oscar Scandals

“I’m a fierce warrior,” she declared back then. “I love a good fight. If it were up to me, I’d be on every talk show, arguing with everyone all the time.”https://svtoday.org/

She said this to explain the intensity of her life leading up to her role in Emilia Pérez, when she publicly came out as a trans woman. But that bold statement also seemed like a preview of what was to come. Fast forward to today, and the newly Oscar-nominated actress is caught in a scandal that’s threatened both her career and the promising awards campaign of Emilia Pérez, all while she’s been engaging in a media blitz with no signs of backing down.

Until recently, Gascón, at 52, and her film Emilia Pérez were riding high. With 13 Oscar nominations, Emilia Pérez was Netflix’s best shot at winning its first Best Picture award, and Gascón had already made history as the first openly trans actress to be nominated for an Oscar.

Then, last Wednesday, journalist Sarah Hagi uncovered old posts on X (formerly Twitter) from Gascón that included offensive comments about Muslims (calling Islam “a hotbed of infection for humanity”), disparaging George Floyd (“a drug-addicted con artist”), and mocking the 2021 Oscar winners (“I didn’t know if I was watching an Afro-Korean festival, a Black Lives Matter demonstration, or the 8-M”). Netflix quickly issued a statement in which Gascón apologized for her past posts. However, instead of letting the situation calm down, the actress took a more defiant approach.

After deactivating her X account, Gascón sent an open letter to The Hollywood Reporter, telling her critics, “The more you try to destroy me, the stronger I will become.” In an emotional interview with CNN En Español, which she arranged herself, Gascón denied insulting her Emilia Pérez co-star Selena Gomez, claimed that an X post appearing to target Gomez had been doctored, and asserted, “I cannot step down from an Oscar nomination because I haven’t committed any crime.”

She’s also been defending herself daily on Instagram, keeping the controversy front and center. None of this has been coordinated by Netflix, and now the streaming giant’s strategists are scrambling to salvage an awards campaign that once seemed like a surefire success.

This incident reflects a growing trend in which social media controversies, which used to be manageable, have now spiraled out of control, catching even the most seasoned awards strategists off guard. In today’s Oscar season, social-media detectives and vocal fanbases dig up past mistakes, tweets, and problematic clips, then amplify them across platforms like X, TikTok, and Reddit.

For example, The Brutalist faced online backlash for using an A.I. tool to perfect actor Adrien Brody’s Hungarian accent, and Anora was criticized for not hiring an intimacy coordinator. The rise of Brazilian best-actress nominee Fernanda Torres added fuel to the fire, with her fans attacking Gascón for implying that Torres’ supporters were sabotaging her and Emilia Pérez. Then, just days later, a 2008 clip resurfaced showing Torres performing in blackface on a Brazilian comedy show, forcing her to apologize.

Not all of these controversies affect the traditional offline Oscar race. In the past, films like Green Book and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri overcame online criticism about their treatment of racial issues and still won multiple Oscars. While Emilia Pérez had faced online criticism since its release for its handling of trans issues and Mexican culture, that had largely gone unnoticed by Oscar voters, who considered it a bold and progressive film.

However, Gascón’s scandal has been impossible to ignore, according to many in the industry. Liberal voters, who might have supported Emilia Pérez as a trans-empowerment story, could now hesitate due to her past tweets, especially after Variety published an editorial calling Gascón the “Donald Trump of Oscar season.”

So, what’s next for the Emilia Pérez campaign, with the Oscars just a month away? In the short term, Netflix has shifted its focus to Gascón’s co-star, Zoe Saldaña, an established industry favorite who’s now considered a top contender for the supporting-actress Oscar. However, how this affects the film’s chances in the Best Picture category remains uncertain.

For instance, voting for this Saturday’s Producers Guild Awards — often seen as a strong predictor of Best Picture — was nearly finished before the Emilia Pérez controversy blew up. European voters, who tend to be more forgiving of scandals than their American counterparts, may still rally behind the film at upcoming BAFTA and César Awards.

I’ve heard that Gascón will likely focus on European award shows and skip the Critics Choice Awards on Friday, where she’s nominated for Best Actress, and the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday, where she had been slated to present. Whether she will attend the Screen Actors Guild Awards or the Oscars next month is still unclear, but Netflix will no longer cover her travel expenses to Los Angeles.

Regardless of the outcome, this controversy will undoubtedly alter how future awards campaigns are managed. Many in the industry were surprised that neither Netflix nor Gascón’s publicists managed to persuade her to delete her old posts before they gained worldwide attention. Expect future campaigns to include extensive social media sweeps to avoid similar issues.

In the meantime, Oscar strategists will need to reckon with their own blind spots. And hopefully, Gascón will too. When I interviewed her last August, she spoke passionately about Olympic boxer Imane Khelif, whose eligibility had been questioned by figures like J.K. Rowling.

“It’s always the same story — these people always try to find a new victim to generate hate,” Gascón said. “It’s a constant element in human history. Before it was people of color, women, and workers. Now, it’s trans people.”

Her voice grew louder. “And even I, maybe without realizing it, have some prejudice or criticize some communities because we all do it,” Gascón admitted.