"Inexcusable"

“Emilia Pérez” director distances himself from Gascón

Karla Sofia Gascón causes a lot of displeasure before the Oscars. Now "Emilia Pérez" director Jacques Audiard has also distanced himself from the trans actress.(Bild: APA/AFP/Raul ARBOLEDA)

French star director Jacques Audiard (72) has distanced himself from Karla Sofía Gascón, the leading actress in his film "Emilia Pérez", in an interview with the US industry portal "Deadline.com". Gascón's "hateful" comments were "inexcusable", said Audiard. 

He was reacting to the Spanish actress' earlier tweets, which contained racism, Islamophobia and malicious criticism of female colleagues in the industry, becoming public.

Favorite role squandered?
The posts by Gascón (52), who is the first trans woman to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role, triggered a wave of outrage. In the musical thriller "Emilia Pérez", Gascón plays a Mexican drug lord who has his gender reassigned to a woman.

The scandal surrounding Gascón overshadows the film, which is actually an Oscar favorite with 13 nominations.(Bild: Photo Press Service)

With 13 nominations, the French production was initially hailed as an Oscar favorite, but industry insiders now see its chances at the 97th Academy Awards on March 2 as being in jeopardy.

Gascón must take responsibility
The debate about Gascón is now overshadowing everything, says Audiard. He had not spoken to her at the moment and did not want to do so. He cannot understand why she continues to harm herself and other people close to her, said the director, referring to the team of "Emilia Pérez". Gascón must take responsibility for her actions instead of seeing herself as a victim.

Director Audiard severely criticizes Karla Sofía Gascón.(Bild: AFP/Getty Images/Kevin Winter)

In principle, Gascón had not denied the authenticity of most of the tweets attributed to her. In one of her statements, she apologized for having "caused pain". She was not racist, but she used "a lot of irony, sarcasm and sometimes exaggeration", she said in an interview.

"Campaign of hate"?
Some tweets had also been "invented by some media outlets", she continued. She also spoke of a "campaign of hate" aimed at her as a trans woman and at her work. According to reports from media such as "El País", Gascón had insulted Islam, Arabs, Catalans and celebrities, including her "Emilia Pérez" colleague Selena Gomez, among others.

Audiard is known for unconventional films such as "A Prophet" and "The Taste of Rust and Bone". "Emilia Pérez" has already won numerous awards. At the Cannes Film Festival, the female ensemble of Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz shared the prize for best actress. In Lucerne, it was named the best European film of the year and also recently won the Golden Globe in the "Comedy/Musical" category.