Karla Sofía Gascón apologizes for old social media posts on George Floyd, Islam : NPR

Spanish actress Karla Sofía Gascón, who starred in the Oscar-nominated film Emilia Pérez, is facing a backlash after old, derogatory posts on X, formerly Twitter, resurfaced Thursday morning.

Many of the posts, which were written in Spanish and shared by writer Sarah Hagi in a series of screenshots with Google translations on X, directly vilify Muslims. One post calls Islam a « hotbed of infection for humanity. » Another claims that Islam is « incompatible with Western values. »

The dates of the tweets range from 2016 to the early 2020s. Gascón deactivated her account on X after online users resurfaced the posts.

In a statement to TheWrap, Sue Obeidi, the director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s Hollywood bureau, said she was disturbed by the posts.

« Deleted or not, these tweets are hurtful, offensive, and shocking, most especially coming from someone who is a member of another vulnerable community. Muslims are part of every community, including the transgender community, » Obeidi said.

Other posts from Gascón that resurfaced online attacked China, referring to COVID vaccines as « the Chinese vaccine, [which] apart from the mandatory chip, comes with two spring rolls, a cat that moves its hand, 2 plastic flowers, a pop-up lantern, 3 telephone lines and one euro for your first controlled purchase. »

In another resurfaced thread, Gascón comments on the 2020 murder of George Floyd, claiming that very few people cared about him. She also calls Floyd a « drug addict swindler. »

« This is all from the star of a movie that is campaigning on its progressive values, » Hagi, who first shared the anti-Islam tweets on X, said on the platform.

Gascón, 52, plays a trans cartel boss as the titular character in Netflix’s Emilia Pérez. She made Oscars history as the first openly trans actress nominated for an Academy Award.

« I want to acknowledge the conversation around my past social media posts that have caused hurt, » Gascón said in a statement from Netflix. « 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. »