Tearful Emilia Perez Star Karla Sofia Gascon Denies ‘Rich Rat’ Selena Gomez Post, Questions Timing of Leaks

The first openly transgender person nominated in an acting category in the upcoming Oscars race, Gascón reportedly set up her own hourlong interview at CNN en Español Saturday night to address the controversies, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Described as “defiant and penitent” by the outlet, THR noted that an at-times tearful and emotional Gascón expressed regret for “how her words have been interpreted,” while also outright denying that all of the past tweets attributed to her are real.

In particular, there were purportedly a whole array of posts targeting various celebrities on Gascón’s since-deleted X feed, including posts that circulated online attributed to her about her Emilia Pérez costar, Selena Gomez.

“She’s a rich rat who plays the poor bastard whenever she can and will never stop bothering her ex-boyfriend and his wife,” the purported tweet read, as translated by Google and noted in the Latin Times, referring to Gomez’s past relationship with Justin Bieber, and his current wife Hailey Baldwin.

The post purportedly came after casting announcements about Emilia Pérez shared by Gascón that listed Gomez as her costar in the film, meaning she would have been aware that she and Gomez would be working together when she reportedly made the post.

Speaking with CNN en Español about this post in particular, Gascón emphasized, “Of course that’s not mine. I have never said anything about my partner. I would never refer to her that way.”

In fact, she went so far as to suggest that the timing of these leaks is to target her ahead of the Oscars. “I start thinking about where this comes from,” she said, suggesting that it could be an attempt to derail her chances at becoming the first transgender person to win an acting Oscar.

“They have dedicated themselves to searching, to put together all the things that I had said at a time that I had written —most of which are false,” she argued, per THR, “most of them I don’t even recognize that I wrote them.”

“And they put them all together and so it seems that she is a very bad person and we remove her just when we can do the most damage, right in the in the voting period,” Gascón continued.

At the same time, she said it’s not about her specifically winning the award that she’s expressing her concerns. “I don’t give a damn about awards,” she told the news outlet. “What I do care about is the people that I represent, because of what I represent in this world. We can all change and be better people in this world.”

On Friday, Gascón’s X account disappeared after people on social media had begun resurfacing posts dating back to 2016 and newer where she appeared to take on George Floyd, Muslims, and even Oscars diversity, as covered by TMZ.

In one post shared by the outlet, Gascón purportedly wrote, per Google translation, “Islam is wonderful, without any sexism. Women are respected and when they’re respected a lot, they leave a little square on their face so that their eyes and mouth can be seen, but only if they behave well. Although they dress like that for pleasure. What a DEEP DISGUSTING HUMANITY.”

Gascón denied any Islamophobia, sharing that she had a close Muslim friend “whom I adore, whom I love and who has taught me so much about respect for people.” She went on to explain that her issues were with radical Islam, citing the 2004 train bombings in Madrid, which she said were near her home.

She purportedly referred to Floyd as “a drug addict and a hustler,” per TMZ, writing, “I truly believe that very few people ever cared about George Floyd, a drug addict and a hustler, but his death has served to highlight once again that there are those who still consider Black people to be monkeys without rights and those who consider the police to be murderers. All wrong.”

While talking on CNN en Español, Gascón explained that she was trying to point out the hypocrisy of him, in particular, as a symbol of oppression, per THR.

“He was a person who had been in a very difficult situation in his life and no one had helped him, and suddenly she becomes a symbol of a cause and everyone loved him,” she said, adding, “But for someone to think that …  I have ever insulted a person because of their skin color, I do not allow that to anyone, to anyone.”

Another purported tweet singled out by users on social media addressed Adolf Hitler. Per Google translate, this post read, “This is the same old story, ‘black slaves and women in the kitchen.’ But it is my opinion and it must be respected. I do not understand so much world war against Hitler, he simply had his opinion of the Jews. Well, that’s how the world goes.” The post closed with a praying hands emoji.”

To this and other unspecified posts, Gascón said they were lacking context. This wasn’t a case of her expression her own opinions, she insisted, but rather she was, as THR put it, “voicing a hypothetical opinion she condemned.”

Despite the narrative that began to pick up steam toward the latter part of this past week, Gascón insisted that she’s always made an effort to do no harm. “What have I done in my life? What have I done? I haven’t killed a single fly,” she said, per THR. “When I have a spider in my house I put a little glass on it so as not to kill it and take it out to the street.”

Describing her interview as more of a monologue, with CNN en Español anchor Juan Carlos Arciniegas at times struggling to interrupt the actress to ask a question, THR noted he did ask if she would renounce her nomination in the wake of this outcry.

“I cannot renounce a nomination because what I have done is a job and what is being valued is my acting work,” she replied. “And I cannot renounce a nomination either because I have not committed any crime nor have I harmed anyone, I am not a racist, nor am I anything that all these people have taken it upon themselves to try to make others believe that I am.”

On Friday, as she was deleting her X account, Gascón shared an apology with TMZ, saying, “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.”

In a lengthier apology to The Hollywood Reporter, Gascón referred to the backlash as a “campaign of hate and misinformation,” before saying she had closed her account to protect her family, and at their request.

“”I have been threatened with death, insulted, abused and harassed to the point of exhaustion. I have a wonderful daughter to protect, whom I love madly and who supports me in everything,” she wrote.

“As part of this society, I have expressed my disagreement or agreement with all the related issues that have touched me and of which I have had an opinion, often erroneous, which has changed throughout my own experience,” Gascón continued, adding that she has “defended each and every one of the minorities in this world and supported freedom of religion and any action against racism and homophobia in the same way that I have criticized the hypocrisy that underlies them, because the first thing I am critical of is myself.”

See her full statement, here.

Emilia Pérez is up for a whopping 13 Oscars for next month’s ceremony — the most out of any film this year, including Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña, while Emilia Pérez was also recognized in other major categories, including Best Picture, Best Director for Audiard, Best International Film and more.